Head in the Clouds
by Shamo9
Summary: Trouble is brewing in Lark Creek. Time changes everything, even people. Restless souls once idle and content lash out against each other. Can Jess Aarons handle it? More importantly, can Lark Creek elementary survive? It's going to be an adventure, right?
1. More Than This

Disclaimer: Property of Katherine Paterson

Head in the Clouds

Revised Chapter One

More Than This

_Once upon a time there was a girl_

Revised: 11/7/10_  
_

* * *

"Oh, Leslie wait-"

Jess sighed as Leslie jumped head first back into the Burke's clustered closet without a care in the world. Lord, did she value her health at all?

The closet gave a jarring and thoroughly unsettling wobble as if in reply. The vibration that followed would certainly have graced the rector scale at a respectable 4.1. Jess took a few surreptitious steps back, a chill in the pit of his stomach telling him he wanted no part of this 'excavation'.

"Hey, Leslie, I don't really need the shoes, I've lived in Lark Creek long enough, a little rain I can handle no... hey, are you listening?"

"Pffttt!" coughed the closet, an avalanche of shoes tumbling down into the hallway.

"Lord, can't we just... go back to exploring your house or something? We didn't finish the basement, heck, we haven't even touched the attic. I'm sure the rain'll stop soon anyhow." He was concerned she might be burying herself into her own grave, such was the size of the forgotten goods, swaying with every twist and turn of Leslie's explorations.

"Look," she said, head popping out of the untidy mess like a chirpy dolphin, "its the cleats I was taking about."

Leslie carelessly tossed them towards Jess, who luckily avoided contact with the uninviting studs.

"Leslie!" But she'd already dived right back in for another round. It reminded him of Steve Irwin the way she wrestled with the jammed coats: tugging, prodding and jumping onto them with a sort of determined grin on her face. A horribly frightening image of Leslie 'coercing' a crocodile to guard Terabitha briefly filtered through his mind...

"Ugh!" Jess nearly toppled downstairs courtesy of a missile-like shoe crashing into his forehead. Vision fuzzy and ears ringing, he urged Leslie to learn how to bloody hand things over properly!

Thankfully Leslie eventually grew tired of being a greedy excavator, gathering a plethora of wet weather clothes and innocently handing them to an exacerbated eleven year old.

"I should probably get some stuff for the clubroom as well," she added as an afterthought, staring back into the closet with keen interest.

"Clubroom?"

"You know, Team Terabithia!" Leslie jumped on the spot as if readying for a sprint. "Our new after-school club, the best club yet to be conceived in the annals of time and space. Ah, Terabitha, growing wings and expanding in Lark Creek Elementary. Good, good."

Jess shuddered instinctively in much the same way he had the first time he heard the woeful name 'Team Terabithia'.

"Lord, Leslie, it only started by accident yesterday, don't you think you should get the groundwork finished first? Like, you know, ask Janice Avery and _them_ if they want to come back or whatever." _Them_ was of course referring to Wonda Kay and Scott Hoager – ugh, he felt like throwing up.

Surprisingly she seemed to accept his advice, dropping the issue... for now. The duo instead concentrated their efforts on mastering the mountain of chores that all the Burkes seemed prone to forget in their 'unstuck' moments of inspiration.

"Ahhh, you're like Mr Fantastic – the one with hands like elastic – amazing." Leslie's eyes gleamed like polished diamonds as he obliterated a pile of dirty dishes at break neck speed, all the while avoiding any slips or splashes.

Ordinarily he'd find the daily task of dish washing an ordeal, but at the Burkes, it was actually quite enjoyable for some reason. Well, other than the somewhat awkward moment when Bill looked like he was about to burst into tears of joy upon seeing the spotless sink.

"What a sight, never would I have imagined, never," the bizarre bespectacled man had muttered in a euphoric haze as he'd stumbled away.

Leslie might not have been the greatest with her hands, but she was certainly a willing learner, and seemed to find something magical in even the most mundane household items that were stored and ignored the world over.

"Ah, so you dust like this? I see, with your back like... oh, now I feel like a mistreated and oppressed Cinderella, striving diligently to merely pacify my maniacal sisters." Leslie skilfully thrust her broom upwards, stabbing the air above her precisely. "Take that wicked witch, I prefer bananas to apples anyway – oh wait, that's Snow White, isn't it?"

Jess nodded in agreement, so long as her ire was directed at imaginary foes and not him he had no problem.

He wouldn't have noticed it if they hadn't been cleaning every speck so thoroughly. Overshadowed by a precarious stack of books, it had almost been camouflaged by the dust like a chameleon. He picked it up without thinking, curiosity silencing any protests.

It looked fairly recent, such was the quality of the image and the bright controlled faces that proposed class and sophistication. The sides were crumpled slightly, as if someone had squished it carelessly into their pocket.

He felt Leslie beside him. She would notice if he stood their like an idiot. Come on, he felt a voice urge him to throw it away and continue as normal. He didn't listen.

"Leslie... this, kind of, fell?" What is it, he wanted to add, but he had just enough wits left to hold it in.

She looked like she'd taken a large mouthful of sour medicine the moment she set eyes on it. "Ah, that's... a photo. I, er - one of my old schools, an interesting place, although just look at the hats! I believe I already told you about the gym?"

"But look," Jess said with disbelief that she was downplaying this, thrusting the photo into her face, "it says school for gifted and talented children, what does that even mean?"

"That's sort of the problem." Leslie smiled thinly, hiding any discomfort with unstable hearty laughter.

"But–"

Leslie shrugged off any further questions like water from a duck's back. "Anyway, does this have anything to do with cleaning?"

His expression must have suggested that it had everything to do with everything because she hesitated for a moment, twisting her neck. "I'm young and thick. Heads too full of stuff, I need a bigger head."

She quickly started sweeping again, humming a catchy tune, albeit with slightly more rigid, tempestuous strokes than before. Jess exhaled like he'd been punched in the stomach, knowing full well from experiences with his father that the calm before the storm could be much more terrifying.

He discarded the photo of Leslie's old class, a meticulously composed image with grandiose setting and fancy uniforms, back on the shelf where he hoped it belonged for good. It bothered the hell out of him for some reason to see someone who looked like Leslie, but at the same time couldn't be more different. Like seeing a favourite actor staring as an alien with prosthetic make up in a wacky, surreal film that was impossible to grasp.

To be confronted with the reality that Leslie had existed before, that she probably had friends, memories and experiences that he could never be a part of... it was difficult to stomach, like a rubber steak lying in his mouth refusing to bend or break, he could only leave it lingering over him like a dark cloud.

"Now for the bathroom," Leslie said in an unnecessarily loud voice, the slow motion of her gait urging him to follow.

School for the gifted. He shook his head, from that to Lark Creek, it just didn't make any sense. He willed himself to forget it even happened as he followed her begrudgingly.

"Aaahhh, amazing, amazing." Leslie applauded fervently as Jess gave a satisfied wipe of the brow at a job well done. It was dark now and they were both taking advantage of the brief respite from rain, resting on the Burke's front porch.

Before today the Burke's house had resembled something out of a holiday homes programme that he'd often catch his mother watching enviously. While spacious and modern, the house had lacked all the little trinkets that really made a home a _home. _

An ornament here, a souvenir there and most importantly photos and prized possessions that you were actually proud to display to the world. He couldn't quite describe why, but it made him feel immensely pleased to see the Burke family home now really resembling a place where people actually lived, rather than some place they were merely passing through.

"Ah," Leslie stretched out her back on the welcome mat they'd found gathering dust in a forgotten crevice. It proclaimed proudly: Come Back With A Warrant.

"I definitely have to give you a reward," Leslie said, nodding wistfully, "definitely."

Her eyes wandered along the road as if something suitable would spring out of the mud. Jess' eyes narrowed into slits for only an instant; Leslie was acting rather suspiciously.

Jess decided to feign ignorance for now, saying in a causal manner, "Yeah, it's a pity I can't stay for longer, I'd still like a crack at the attic."

"Why not?" The instant retort narrowly missed the end of his sentence.

"Er, well." Caught the fish in one... he hadn't expected Leslie to shift tactics so quickly and directly, strange. "I guess I could, although I'd have to ask my mum to see if she was okay with it, it shouldn't be much of a problem. Oh, and we'd have to ask your parents as well."

"Hey," Leslie said, face brightening, "that's a great idea, you can stay the whole night even. I'll ask Bill and Judy now!"

"Staying over, where?" Judy had asked slowly, as if she were digesting the words. Leslie had gotten her attention by tapping loudly on her study door, calling with a sort of jubilant glee expected of a children's comedian.

"Here, of course!" Leslie's abrupt yell startled Judy, who seemed to be not fully extracted from her writing. The older women, who had remained seated beside her desk, turned around to look at Leslie. Her oval shaped green eyes looking like they were staring at something from a great distance.

"Here..." Judy frowned, as if confronted with a key on the keyboard she'd never seen before. Jess was just trying not to gape at a cartoon drawing of an obese extended family gorging on babies; the image hanging sinisterly above Judy's computer, flapping slightly in the wind.

"Hhhhmmm." Leslie rubbed her chin. There was a relaxed atmosphere between the pair as Leslie took the cue to glide into Judy's study; staring at a garden gnome, who was lying on the floor smoking a pipe, with an air of familiarity – wait, why did Judy have a gnome in her study? "I suppose my room, although it might be kinda small. Jess, where do you want to go?"

"Eh," Jess shook his head to recover from the gnome's obscene stare. "I guess the living room is fine."

"Of course," Leslie began, clicking her fingers. "The golden room, good idea – Judy, what do you think?"

"I see..." Judy started, but then Jess' eye were ensnared by a painting he couldn't find the words to describe. It shone out from the other paintings in the study like a beacon. Lord, it was...

Jess attempted to breathe in the spiralling yellow orbs, contrasting peacefully with the sombre blue sky; auras interconnected like clockwork, weaving together, moving continuously like dial machinery rather than paint, a painting within a painting.

Lord, he felt a sudden burning sensation in his chest, and that was only the start of it! There was the black tower at the forefront, straining and desperate to connect with the sky's all encompassing majesty. To the helping of tiny buildings in the centre, who surely had to feel awe and even trepidation every time they dared to look up, the sky threatening to fall down on top of them at any moment, such was its size.

It was far too much for two eyes to handle. He needed four or five just to feel like he'd grasped the true feeling emitted from the sky, any less and he felt like he was missing something so vital walking away was impossible.

A feeling of respect, of pride washed over him as sweater than normal air filled his nostrils to the brim. Someone had managed to paint this, no, had _achieved_ this. Managed to show what was possible. Lord, if only he could...

"Jess, what are," Leslie interrupted his reverie, following his entrenched gaze with interest. "Ah, Vincent Van Gogh, a good choice."

Jess felt his face grow hot, he must've zoned out for a while as Judy was standing as well, staring at him with a complex expression that he was too mortified to linger on.

He needed to control himself better! It was rude to gawk at things like that. This is exactly what his father had been talking about earlier. Focus on the real world, the here and now.

"Jess is going to be an artist too," Leslie assured Judy, pride and confidence evident in her tone as she added, "he's already really good."

Judy smiled, the first concrete expression he'd seen on her face. "I see..."

He was sure Judy tilted her head at him then, although why she would nod and what she could 'see' was beyond him.

Leslie clapped her hands together. "Now for Bill, come on."

Jess was confused as to why Leslie felt it necessary to ask both of her parents for the same thing.

"They both live here," she said distractedly, tightening her grip on his wrist as they climbed the stairs, the force of Leslie Burke demanding rather than compelling.

His mother was a much more brief and familiar course to negotiate. Her eyes never left the dish she was scrubbing. Jess nervously entering the kitchen. Stomach tightening into knots as her name stuck on his tongue. He was painfully aware that if he rubbed her the wrong way he'd not only be knee deep in extra chores. But have the added weight of May Belle clinging to his leg begging to come.

Thankfully she nodded gruffly without fuss. Eyes scrunched in concentration. Muscular arms swishing to and fro with precision. Much like he had earlier but with an entirely different demeanour. She was content, it appeared, so long as he was safe and out of her hair so the dishes could be finished. This, by all accounts, was more than he could've hoped. He rushed back to the Burke's like a bullet. Unwillingly to give her time to change her mind.

As the last remnants of Sun finally receded, Leslie grew, if it were physically possible, even more excitable than usual.

"Ah, I've never had a sleepover before," she said, confessing that she'd always wondered what they were like. Jess nodded, a strange prickly heat making his back stand a little straighter than usual.

An array of food was a must, years of experience with Brenda and Ellie had taught him that. The only requirement being they be easily within reach, throwable and cavity-inducing. Staying up late was the main agenda, so measures had to be taken to make it worthwhile. A scary story or even a visit to Terabithia crossed Jess' mind.

After that was taken care of one needed to acquire a straight-to-DVD movie so crappy it was paradoxically hilarious. Unfortunately the Burke house possessed neither T.V nor DVD player meaning that improvisation was necessary.

With inhuman hearing Bill had commandeered the task of storytelling suggested by Leslie, citing that it'd been so long since he'd experienced a sleepover that he couldn't just let this one go to pot. Judy, not to be out done, attempted to drown out the subtle inflections in Bill's delivery with the radio.

It was on old, dusty thing; with a large orange circular gauge that you had to treat gently or it would squeal with interference.

"Mum," Bill paused amidst his story, head creeping up over the book. "I believe I have finally discovered who killed the Radio Star."

Watching Bill and Judy, it was like an itch Jess couldn't stop scratching. It only grew more painful. He knew Leslie liked to 'understand' her parents, but he still couldn't quite wrap his head around two grown ups acting so casually in his presence, like an equal. Parents were there to tell you to do this or that, to ask for money if you were Brenda and Ellie and to scold when you were perceived as doing wrong.

Thankfully Leslie never noticed his discomfort, too busy 'ooing' and awing' at Bill's exaggerated deliver like a spellbound audience that would make even a seasoned performer weep with joy.

After Bill and Judy had come to blows – with cushions at least – they had retired to continue their bickering upstairs, leaving Jess and Leslie to sort out themselves.

There was a brief bump in the road when Jess realised with embarrassment that he didn't have a sleeping bag of his own. He'd nonchalantly shrugged it off, claiming he was quite happy with the floor before Leslie had slyly positioned herself beside him.

"Ah, the floor, I've never done this before, sounds like fun." She surreptitiously placed the sleeping bag horizontally behind them both as a makeshift pillow, forcefully announcing,"I'll sleep here too."

Sleepovers became something of a weekly tradition for the pair over the years after that. No matter the week, it was always the highlight. One constant in an ever-changing world, whether at Leslie's or in Terabthia during the summer, a chance for both of them to 'offload' without fear of reprisal.

Leslie would always find new and exciting things to do or to be. With anyone else he'd feel like an idiot talking about... stuff, but with Leslie, shedding one's ires and inclinations was not only a pleasure, but a basic need. A need as powerful as security, thirst and even hunger

"There," Jess would say, Leslie's bold spontaneity infectious. There didn't have to be a purpose with her, no wage or qualification at the end. That was the whole point. A passion for life and a passion for living.

His wayward eyes would stare upwards as he would describe; the ceiling concealed by darkness, making him feel like it stretched on forever. Past the roof; past P.T howling away; past the attic with that bizarre painting of a man riding a tricycle; past the clouds; past the sky and even the very stars.

His fingers would crack hungrily like the mouth of a starving man. Lord, how he wished to draw it, not later from poorly constructed memory but now, when the thought was still fresh and alive, intimate and bold.

"I'm used to quiet, to _being _quiet" he started once, months later, destination unknown. "But silence... it's so loud. This house... it's like mine, all the noise. The refrigerator, the computer, the tap water, you and me. There's even this bird, this mental bird. Every time I wake up early I hear it. 'Ka-kah' it goes, every morning at five. All the birds chirp away together and then there's this great big thing going ka-kah all of a sudden, every morning on the dot, it's crazy. Bloody mental, I love that mental bird."

"Wow, Jess." Leslie looked like Christmas, Easter and Halloween had all come at once. Finding a sudden burst of energy, she jumped onto the couch and balanced like an aerobatic on a tight rope. There was an ambient ebullience in her face; crystal clear despite the dark of night.

"It must be the artist in you," she decided, nodding. "Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand. Fantastic. Hah!"

Leslie with her regal tone and indefatigable spring of step made everything sound so straightforward and plausible, but surely there was more to it than that?

"Do you really think I can do it, you know, be an artist?"

"Of course!" she said, pointing at him sternly with mock accusation. "Why would you ask such a thing?"

"Its, I'm just..." He hesitated for a second, shrugging his shoulders self-deprecatingly. "You know, all those fancy names like Van Gogh or Da Vinci, and I'm, just... Jess."

"Well, just Jess." Leslie's eyes narrowed like she was concocting an evil scheme, but her face then softened somewhat as she endured, words sharp and impassioned as her eyes turned misty. "Don't be put of if something looks dangerous or difficult, or is supposed to be or even really looks like it is. I mean... what's the good of your life if you're not willing to chance it? To have one shot, winner takes all, every card on the table. Like my gran always says, art is simply what you can get away with, and, and even I haven't figured that out yet."

"Really?" Jess squinted despite himself, unable to hide his surprise. A smart girl like Leslie not knowing the answer, well, it was probably enough to make Mrs Myers pack her bags and go home.

Leslie blushed slightly, waving her arms widely to rouse herself. "It's not for anyone to say, everyone has to discover it for themselves, look beyond the monotony of school, work, marriage, going home to watch T.V and eat chips – oh, so boring, there's more to it, there has to be. There's more than this. "

Jess closed his eyes, letting himself be taken away by Leslie's words not just to him, but the entire world. He let the power behind every decibel lift him into the sky, flying as she set the course: next stop everywhere. But then, as her speech drew to a close he worried, sweating almost as he wondered if he could truly follow. He, Jess Aarons, a dumb kid from Lark Creek...

"What if it's not enough, you know? Not everyone gets what they want. My Dad says." He shifted uncomfortably. "Er, that change is, well, it happens, no matter what you do. Nothing stays the same, and we have to get on with it."

"Ah, fantastic." If Leslie had a tail it'd be wagging right about now. "Remember that there are explanations earned, and explanations that are completely and utterly common sense, taken for granted."

"Then how do you decide which is which?"

"Take a wild guess. Usually works for me," she said, nonplussed as she brushed imaginary dust from her top.

"A guess!" He sort of stuttered a bit, unsure if Leslie was only joking now. "What if you get it wrong?"

"Then kick and scream, through the toys out of the pram," Leslie implored, arms waving more madly than ever as she paced a hole through the floor. He honestly believed that she was about to full on dance around the room in a minute. "Join a cult and worship the spaghetti monster. Be stupid. Get angry, things never get solved by running away, or robotically accepting things. Part of the problem equals part of the solution. Something only becomes inevitable when you assume that it is. Ha!"

Her smile was growing wider and more radiant by the second. She loved people arguing with her like a spider loved something entangled in its web.

"You're bonkers," he stated. He didn't mean it in a bad way either. Jess remembered the first picture he'd seen of Einstein, tongue sticking out and hair like he'd been sleeping in an anti-gravity chamber. The first thought that had come into his mind was bonkers, that guy had to be completely bonkers to look and act like that.

"So, my King." Leslie skilfully, and seemingly at random, transformed back into the noble Queen of Terabithia. With all its rapture and grandiose that was a million miles away from everything he knew, like an alien comet had decided, on a whim, to park outside his house. "For putting up with me for so long, you are granted one request."

"A request, you say?" Jess clumsily attempted to get the regal tone down to no avail.

"Anything you want, if it is in my power, I will do it. The first thing that enters into your head. Your response will speak volumes." Leslie crouched down so their eyes were level, staring at him intently as she finished, "All you have to do is trust me."

"People always say that." He wasn't talking so much about Leslie; it was just a thing _you_ heard a lot in life is all, his retort had even left his mouth before he'd fully registered Leslie's words.

"Do I look like people?" Their noses were almost touching now and he couldn't help but squirm a little under her dauntless, smiling gaze. Her all seeing, unflinching blue orbs, a paradox of fire and ice, terrifying and wonderful, one undeniable storm like the very heart of the Sun.

His own eyes were evasive as he said to the wall. "Just, don't forget about Lark Creek, Leslie."

"Huh?" Leslie stood up, breaking the spell. Jess felt her eyes on him, waiting for him to elaborate, but no such thing was forthcoming.

She nodded uncertainly, and then again as if reassure herself. Out of the all things in the universe, that had been his first thought, Jess Aarons' only request.

"Yes, yes. Of course," she said, smiling serenely once again, "if that's your only request then I'm duty bound to fulfil it."

He smiled gratefully, uttering his thanks. It was a joyous happy moment, the type of thing that was worth remembering.

As they chuckled together, they felt like two co-conspirators in their own small piece of the world, hiding a great big secret from everyone else, something that belonged to them, their moment. The feeling of being impervious to harm was inescapable. Freedom, that same feeling of weightlessness whenever they swung into Terabithia.

Yes, he nodded to himself. Nothing, nothing could touch them here.

"Now, about that attic," Leslie started, suddenly and ominously bursting out into a grin. "I believe there's a way to get on to the roof." She darted off before she'd even finished, desire evident.

Lord, Leslie falling off the roof and breaking her neck, yeah, that could definitely touch them. "Hey, Leslie, wait up, you'll wake your parents up."

"Ah, good idea, they can join us."

Oh, lord...

Somewhere close by a certain bird was covering for an absent fat lady; readying its throat as its wings outstretched slowly. "Ka-kah!"

* * *

**II**

Jess Aarons was rarely 'blessed' with dreams during rest. On the odd occasion he was, they usually took the form of fragmented and meaningless memories, the type that quickly and unavoidable slipped through one's grasp before the first whiff of breakfast.

This was unfortunately no exception. Jess tapped on his skull irritable, urging it deliver something more appealing in the future. A vision of him as a successful artist capturing some unspeakable beauty on canvas perhaps? Yes, or even Miss Edmunds singing a poignant melody about true love would suffice if his brain lacked the necessary creative spark.

Lord, he nodded, Miss Edmunds would always suffice. Jess was already looking forward to their next encounter on...

"Bloody bank holidays," the frustrated boy cursed under his breath as he felt the lure of sleep rapidly slipping away. Today had the ignominy of being called Tuesday, February 21, 2011.

While he would always be eternally grateful to whatever forces conspired to allow an extra day off school. One day, a glorified long weekend, was simply not enough to sharpen the minds dimmed by the onslaught of the evil and corrupt institution propagating the name education.

He lifted himself gravely out of bed like a worn out corpse on Halloween that didn't quite have what they were looking for on Thriller.

His dishevelled face was forcible pressed into his palm as he yawned, attempting to avoid the wrath of his sisters. May Belle in particularly had been yappering on about some dumb dodgeball game recently. Jess shook his head, he'd been playing dodgeball with her incessant chattering ever since.

"... Jesssss?" May Belle whispered with awed reverence. Unsurprised to find her already up, he warily asked why she was talking like she did in Church.

"It's huge!" May Belle said, pointing to the base of his neck. Lord, why couldn't she learn to talk-

He screamed a perfectly manly and heroic scream crafted from pure machismo and chivalry as he practically hit the ceiling. Jess clawed madly at his chest to get rid of the deceptively small monster crawling relentless up his body with nefarious intentions.

"Say this sort of thing at the beginning!" He glared at May Belle, breath ragged after the confrontation had ended and the monster had hobbled away in defeat. Unfortunately the day began its rapid decline in earnest

"What's the fuss – May Belle, are you alright, I heard a..." His father rushed into the room like a man ready for action, expression chiselled out of stone as he scouted the room for the perpetrator.

"Oh no, Daddy, it was only Jess," May Belle said so matter-of-factly, Jess was a saint for not renouncing her on the spot. "He got scared about this incy bitsy bug, it's fine now."

Jesse Oliver Aarons Sr scorn turned towards his only son, an expression that needed no interpretation on his face. Jess sunk back into his bed hoping it might take pity and gobble him up.

"Jess," his father said tonelessly. "The boys are having a drink this Friday. Some of the guys are talking up new jobs at Ardie's. It would be good for you to come."

Mercifully his father went to work soon after, the faithful 'birripity' of the truck irritating him more than usual.

"Great," he said aloud as he heard May Belle innocently waking up Joyce Ann, completely and utterly oblivious to her treachery.

Eventually habit kicked in and he grudgingly got ready, catching the bus by a whisker as always and then disengaging May Belle and Joyce Ann with their friends for some respite.

Leslie was absent today. He would've been more concerned if not for his suffocating melancholy, which dismissed her absence as most likely the result of a cold or something. She had been a little quiet on Friday when he'd stayed over, he reasoned.

In any case the eternal ray of sunshine that was Mrs Myers was enough to preoccupy him.

"March, April, May." She clicked her fingers for emphasis. "It'll go like that, but the excuses about not revising won't. This is why I've set out an extensive programme of revision, including mock exams on the topics decided on by the new Education Committee. Any questions?"

Lord, why do people assume that teenagers and children are these blank pages just waiting to be written on and have no ideas or opinions of their own?

Myers continued to drone on with incandescent rage at a chip on her shoulder to 'pull your socks up', the 'time of plenty was over' and it was now time for everyone to 'curtail their greed, take responsibility for the next generation' etc etc.

Jess shook his head, he didn't remember having 'plenty' to begin with, never mind getting greedy. Oh, and she started rambling about some daft committee coming to inspect the school, and how they should be on their best behaviour from now on or Mr Turner, the principle, would be having words. If they were all to act different from normal, didn't that defy the whole point of an inspection?

Mercifully school came and went with all the attention it deserved. After completing his routinely disproportionate amount of after-school chores for the day, Jess Aarons trudged back to his room, wasting his last on opening his beloved scrapbook which figuratively captured all the things in his 'good pile'.

Leslie had given it to him a while back so he was loathe to use up a page on a silly homework assignment that served no practical purpose whatsoever. Still, he remembered Judy suggesting in one of her 'unstuck' moments that life was basically an amalgamation of good things and bad. They existed in two different piles and everyone's was different. The trick was in how you weighed them.

He guessed it wouldn't hurt to see:

_This morning I got up, got attacked by a venomous monster, got ready for school, ate breakfast, took the bus to school, learned, fell asleep at lunch like everyone else after Monster Mouth reached the 50 minute mark, wrote out the proper way to live, woke up, ate lunch while pretending to work in class, got bored with work, went home, did Brenda's chores again, played with May Belle, made Joyce Ann's dinner, had mine outside with Miss Bessie, went upstairs to open up my scrapbook and do this crummy homework assignment about my day.  
_

He stared at the words with disgust. Who wants to read about that? Lord, it even bored him!

When an encounter with an insect was your most exciting and thought provoking 'event' in the daily drudgery of life, you knew you were scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel. Jess sighed, feeling like a picked-at-random extra in a movie to give the setting some much needed 'realism'.

He knew he should really start revising for the looming exams, but the whole day had depressed the hell ought of him for some reason.

Jess discarded his pen when he heard his sisters climbing upstairs, collapsing back into his insect ridden bed once again before they could disturb him.

"Do what you want," he said to no one in particular, drifting away to sleep, "I don't care any more..."

Lord, tomorrow was another day. Nothing to see here except a repeat, the only thing that could possible thrive in Lark Creek's turgid atmosphere.

How boring.

* * *

Author's Confessions: For those that read the original version, apologies for the delay. I've decided, after great thought of course, to revise this story a little. This chapter can be considered a prologue whereas 2-6 are more or less the same with some revision and improvements. Just to reemphasise, this story isn't a rewrite, it's merely been improved (I hope).

I feel this chapter serves as a necessary buffer between the original material and the fanfiction. I did worry that this may seem like undercooked psychoanalysis, a silly and needless flashback outwith the story. But the more I thought about it, I figured that for a character to go from A to B in a story, you need to first show them at A in some capacity. I don't consider the first part of this chapter a dream, it just so happens that Jess was recalling previous events at the same time as the reader got a crash course.

Thanks for reading and feedback is always appreciated

Shamo9


	2. It's an Adventure

Head in the Clouds

Chapter Two

It's an Adventure

_You wouldn't really call her typical_

Revised: 10/7/10 (originally chapter one)

* * *

_The room was thick with the scent of destiny. A loving cadence overtook the world as Miss Edmunds stood with slight trepidation, nervously calling out to her secret passion._

_"Jess, could I have a word," Miss Edmunds' whispered with that soft, melodic voice of hers._

_Yes! Yes! A million times – yes! That was what Jess really wanted to say. Instead, he played it cool as always. She deserved no less._

_"Certainly, Miss," Jess said. Not too formal. Not too needy. You're a sly dog, _Aarons_. He watched as Miss Edmunds twisted her fingers in anxiety, obviously preparing herself for something. Jess stood patiently, hands neatly at his side, posture erect._

_"Jess... I... This is difficult for me to say, I've never – felt this way."_

_Jess took her hands in his gently, having the sudden urge to never let go. He looked into her eyes with intensity, letting everything flow to the surface. The fear, the pain and most of all, the love. That love, the never ending flame that burned ardently within him, energising him and scolding him all at once._

_"Miss Edmunds, don't say it," Jess said, lips quivering with the strain. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, allow me."_

_Jess' brave eyes connected with Miss Edmunds, moist with admiration. Jess was sure he felt the ground ripple._

_"Oh, Jess!" Miss Edmunds said faintly. Victory! Here was the moment he'd been agonising over every Friday. This was the moment._

_"Miss Edmunds, I really, truly-"_ Jjjssstt, jjjssst, jssstt!

_What the? Jess tried to talk over the irritating noise. Focus, _Aarons_, focus! Miss Edmunds' face was a painting of sagacity as she waited diligently, head leaning towards him. He couldn't fail her!_

_"Miss Edmu- mah-"_

Jsss! Jssssss! Jssssss! _There it was, louder than ever. He throw his hand wildly around his face - go away! The noise – louder and louder – incessant. He tried to cover his ears, tried to block it out, the evil, acute voice that was trying to ruin him. Wait... that sounded familiar... no, it couldn't be?_

_A sinister beam of yellow bombarded his vision, his eyelids lost their battle for dominance. No!_

"Jess, Jess, Jess!" that satanic like figure known as Leslie Burke invaded his personal fantasy, pushing Jess forcefully off his bed and back into reality.

"Why?" His expression was more resigned than anything as he connected with the floor. Lord, he felt like tearing his hair in frustration, a searing emptiness in his gut making his bowels moan. His brain had finally rewarded him with a perfect scenario, only for outside bloody interference.

"Why?" he repeated, face muffled on the floor. Why couldn't she have woken him up five minutes later? Was this request so unreasonable?

"Jess, are you crying? Judging by your expression you must've been having quite the dream..." Leslie's voice was heartless, malicious. An evil that needed to be purged from the Earth like one of those fantasy stories with dragons and knights.

With no satisfactory response, Leslie continued to pry. "You weren't having another dream about your sisters, were you?"

"No!" Jess finally turning to glare at her from the floor.

Leslie's smile was pure wickedness, eyes peering down at his prone form with a sort of conniving cunning."So you have dreamed about your sisters before, interesting..."

"Why?" Jess said one final time, not bothering to correct her. Once Leslie got an idea in her head it was only removable via escalation or the more crude sledgehammer; unfortunately he didn't have the will or the means for either.

"You're always a beacon of ambiguity, Jess." Leslie was now sitting cross-legged on the edge of his ruffled bed, flicking her fingers unconsciously

"Eh?"

"Why, which why are you asking, there's so many – oh, why am I here?" she said, slapping her palms together and trembling like someone fearing righteous retribution. "Why do we exist? Why do you sleep in on a Tuesday? Why does the world go round? Why is classical music losing touch with young people? Why, oh why, did Hitler fail as a painter? Why would America do such a thing as fake the Moon lan-"

"Leslie... the first one," Jess said, already exhausted. He was perfectly in tune with the enigma known as Leslie Burke. Perfectly in tune with the fact that he'd never again get a moments peace for as long as she saw fit.

Leslie helped him up. "I have an idea."

"Does it involve stealing a boat, sailing along the pacific and trying to rescue a whale?" Jess kept a cautious eye on Leslie as he dusted his bed off.

"Oh, Jess." Leslie sighed, folding her arms reproachfully. "Been there, done that - learn this: it would be disrespectful to our ancestors that paved the way if we simply followed an endless cycle."

Leslie scanned the room, eyeing up P.T with a look Jess couldn't explain, but knew better than to question. Wait, since when did P.T get in here?

"Like a dog chasing its tails..." Leslie said, a certain... solemnity in her voice? Jess was about to say something when her face shifted from melancholy to exuberance once again, practically erupting with reckless abandon. "This one is bigger and better than ever before. Sadness creates inspiration!"

Leslie grabbed his pillow, lifting it over her head like some sort of trophy. "This is what it must've felt like to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall. Liberation, unification - ohhh, now that would make a riveting song. Exist to inspire! Ka- kah!"

The pillow fell from Leslie's maniacal grasp, somehow connecting with Jess' face, nearly toppling him over. Jess emitted a small 'uhg' as the wind was taken from him an Leslie rubbed her head sheepishly – more amused that repentant.

Lord, from dog tails to Berlin Walls - he would never be able to keep up with her.

He interrupted her little celebration with a few pragmatic words. "Do you mind if I eat something first?" He was already resigned to the fact that he was about to face another challenge to his sanity, but at least he could hopefully meet it with a full stomach.

Leslie revealed a plate full of freshly buttered toast. Where had that come from? Leslie's chest heaved at Jess' questioning glance, winking at him ambiguously – she did that a lot.

"Let's walk." Leslie grabbed Jess' hand, dragging him from his bedroom like a ruthless parent. Jess stared mournfully at his now empty sanctuary.

"Leslie, I'm not dressed."

"You can multi-task!" she said, continuing to pull him along. She did that a lot as well...

Most mothers would find the sight of their scantily clad adolescent son being ushered outside by a young girl with a deranged look in her eyes to be, at the least, alarming. This certainly wasn't the case for Mrs Aarons, who had long ago adjusted to the 'behaviour' of her only son.

"Apologies for the intrusion!" Leslie said, waving as she wrestled Jess through the doorway.

Mrs Aarons didn't even raise an eyebrow when Leslie came running back in, not even breathless. "He's finished, I'm sure he'll now grow up to be fit and healthy thanks to your courageous efforts."

Leslie handed her the empty plate, bowing respectfully before charging out to find Mrs Aarons hapless son, who was puffing with exhaustion outside, his guts looking like they were trying to hurl themselves to freedom.

"What?" They were in the relative privacy of the barn and Leslie had just informed him of her scheme. Suffice to say it left him a little shocked.

"Surprise, promising..." Leslie rubbed her chin, eyes focusing and unfocusing like the zoom of a camera lens

"You can't do that, Leslie," Jess said, stamping his foot for emphasis. Unfortunately the disruption woke Miss Bessie from her slumber and Jess hurriedly tried to soothe her whining protests with a comforting hand.

Leslie watched as Jess tended to Miss Bessie, expression ambivalent. When Jess finally turned round, Leslie was sitting cross legged on the floor, ploughing through a stack of apples accompanied by noises of satisfaction every time she devoured one.

"What's that?" Jess asked, having not noticed the pile previously

"Apples." Leslie gave a satisfied noise from the bottom of her throat as she bit her way through a large chunk.

"We don't grow apples," Jess said, brow furrowing.

"Your delightful sister." Leslie patted her lips with her tongue, seemingly quite content to devour everything at hand. "And I have been creating them with nothing but elbow grease and good intentions."

Jess shuddered as he gave a rather rough stroke to Miss Bessie's back, causing the timid cow to shake. Lord, the thought of May Belle and Leslie Burke alone together was a frightening enough combination by itself, added to the fact that Leslie had proclaimed May Belle as her 'apprentice'... it left a sliver of ice cold fear dripping down his back.

"May I ask why?" he said, severely tempted to dunk his head into the sand and let the rest of the world deal with it for once.

"You may."

Jess could've sworn he saw a faint twinkle in her eyes as she attacked another voluptuously red apple. He coughed, "Well?"

Leslie discarded her apples temporarily. "I assume you remember the plan I just informed you of?"

"Vividly."

"Well..." Leslie raised her arms, shrugging. "What else are we going to put on the catapults?"

"Leslie." He shook his head as if he were trying to shake off a parasite, exhaling despairingly. "Just no."

She feigned offence, clutching her chest and giving him a wounded sort of pout of her lips. "But I've tried so hard, how could you deny me without elaboration?"

His heart failed to bleed at her display, hands resting on hips in agitation. "'Cause it's illegal for a start."

"Laws, puh." Leslie threw a forgotten apple core behind her in derision. "They're not set in stone. One has to realise that what's right and wrong relies heavily on perception. For example, you're innocently walking down the road and happen to see a house on fire. There's a baby screaming from inside a locked bedroom window. You smash the window, climb in, and rescue the baby. You just committed the crime of breaking and entering. Was it appropriate for you to do so?"

"That's not the sa-" Jess started, but Leslie waved him off.

"You are standing on a bridge that displays a sign saying 'No Jumping or Diving From Bridge.' You observe a car miss the turn onto the bridge and fall tragically into the water. Do you obey the law, and run the quarter mile to the edge of the bridge, then down the bank of the river, and go in after the victims? Or do you jump off the bridge, down fifteen feet to the victims who are now desperately struggling to hold onto the last shreds of life? Do you want me to continue?"

Jess sighed, pinching his nose. Lord, the girl was like a runaway train sometimes. "Okay, point taken, but its not me you need to convince. Try and say that to the Supreme Court, I'm sure they'll love it."

Leslie's cheeks reddened with excitement, nostrils flaring. "You know... that's not a bad idea."

She was only joking, right? "Leslie, look, I just think tha-"

"Leslie Burke, member of the Supreme Court," she announced to the waiting ears of the world. "That'll be my stage – of course the worlds a stage, but that, that's right front and centre, where the lights shine brighter and the.." Leslie continued her ramblings, practically salivating with excitement.

He was saved by May Belle poking her head through the door to the barn. "Jess, the bus is here and Joyce Ann is hiding like a little baby again... What's wrong with Leslie?"

"She's just as crazy as she's always been," he said, deliberately ignoring the ardent fire in Leslie's eyes as she began giggling like a lunatic. Lord, he really needed to learn to keep his mouth shut.

Jess was given the unwelcome task of finding and dragging a reluctant Joyce Ann to the impatient school bus. She'd hidden away in the old cupboard under the sink this time, right under her mother's nose.

"Ah, the closer you are to danger, the further you are from harm. Ingenious." Leslie applauded as Jess struggled to open the cupboard door. It was one of those old rusted creaky things that seemed to grow more and more stiff every time one closed it, to the point where no one dared place anything worth a dime inside for fear of never seeing it again.

"Leslie, not helping," Jess said in-between large heaves with all his strength. He wondered what it said about Lark Creek Elementary when someone would rather lock themselves in a grimy cupboard than even set eyes on it.

May Belle and Leslie stood impassively behind him, engaging in idle chit chat as he toiled away.

"Why weren't you at school, Leslie?" May Belle asked, sounding disappointed about something. "I thought you was gonna help with the Student-"

"I locked myself in the attic." Leslie interrupted decisively, making what he thought were deliberate gestures behind his back. "It was quite horrific actually, I scared all the residents with my unannounced presence, the poor things were cowering all day."

"Guh," he cried, another heave with both hands intertwined tightly. He felt his back crick, face scrunched up so tightly it hurt as the faint aroma of dust tickled his nose. A little, there -

The door groaned as it finally buckled. Lunging into the air and throwing Jess backwards with it. As Leslie helped him off his backside once again, Joyce Ann poked her out momentarily, large chunks of dust swirling around her like moons. "I'm not going, you can't make me."

Lord, she hated school more than him. Show some gratitude at being set free at least!

An all too harrowing bus ride with Joyce Ann looking as if he'd sold her off into a life of slavery ensued. Gosh, why did he have to get the flak, he was only following orders. Blame society, kid. If Jess had it his way she could've stayed in the cupboard her whole life if she'd so desired. Heck, he'd even be willingly to set her food beside the door if it meant she'd stop scowling at him.

The minute the bus had slowed Leslie jumped up, blabbering something about execution and plans as she vanished into the exodus of bodies. He gave May Belle responsibility over Joyce Ann's welfare as he disentangled himself from the youngest sibling's unnerving glare at last.

He grew a little concerned as the hours ticked by and Leslie failed to make her presence felt in class. Mrs Myers words achieved the extraordinary feat of sounding even more boring and drawn out than usually as he waited for the lunch bell.

"Now class, I believe the time is apt for a mock exam." Painful moans of anguish and sorrow reverberated around the class, although it appeared to be at a frequency beyond Myer's level of hearing because her wrinkly old mask of blood red lipstick and skull socket white eyes remained unmoved.

Finally, finally that faithful ding rung around the school to save them all. Jess pushed his way out faster than ever before, ignoring Mrs Myers' desperate attempts to let the girls go first. He scoured everywhere he thought she might be, even daring to take a surreptitious glance in the girls' toilets. Thankfully no one got close enough to call him a pervert, but that was about the only success he had. Asking stray students walking the halls, they either shrugged or tried harder to ignore him.

"Damn it." His mind worked furiously even as his mouth tried to quell his parched tongue with some moisture. "Where is she?"

Tired and hungry, he ventured to the forgotten, out-of-the-way, room they'd used together with a few other stray wolves as a kind of safe haven a couple of years back. This wasn't so much a long shot as a big giant stab into the dark.

Lord, he hadn't been near the old dump for months, the long trek already aggravating him. It was a way at the back of the school, next to all the untidy storage, putrid toilets and janitor's office. A place you only even contemplated when picked on by a prissy teacher to get something.

That was probably the main reason they'd gathered there, informally and always unannounced; usually when the weather was abysmal or they each had no where better to be. An accidental club that four or five individuals had unsuspectingly stumbled across. What they actually _did_ in the club was a mysterious to him, Jess couldn't quite find the words to describe it other than an inadequate Brenda-esque 'stuff' summation.

His thoughts briefly drifted towards the other 'members' of the club for the first time in an alarmingly long time. He wouldn't and couldn't call Janice Avery, Scott Hoager and Wonda Kay friends by any stretch of the imagination. But, the club, well, it hadn't been wholly unpleasant either.

He supposed, if someone with a similarly demanding disposition to Leslie pressed him, he'd explain that the club had been convenient for all of them at the time. A chance to escape the rigours of their individual's lives and, perhaps, help each other in an indirect sort of way.

Leslie had been determined to call the blasted thing 'Team Terabitha'. A title so abysmal as to be thoroughly rejected and ridiculed by any unfortunate ears it encountered.

Jess snorted derisively in remembrance of the combustible atmosphere inflamed by Leslie's indefatigable attempts to create a banner that adorned the name. The Student Council hadn't been best pleased about such a bizarre club, but he guessed they were less volatile back then, so ultimately let it slide.

Like most school clubs however, the thing died a slow and almost unnoticeable death of its own accord. Like the gentle melting of a candle as opposed to a torch turned off by a switch. Janice Avery had graduated, Scott Hoager and Wonda Kay had moved towns for pastures new and any other stragglers had eventually taken the hint, finding something better to do with their time. Or a better place than Lark Creek, he thought darkly.

It had been a little sad at the time, but such was life. Times changed, people even more so - something everyone had to inevitably come to terms with.

His thoughts concluded in almost perfect synergy with reaching the destination, shadowing the door that he'd so often opened without thinking. He opened it with little expectation, prepared to give nothing more than a cursory glance before giving up. Surely, surely – when all was said and done – a smart girl like Leslie would have no use for such a place any more...

He spotted her instantly, it was hard not to in the face of the barren walls that seemed to stand still with morose.

It all looked so... naked with only two people and no furniture; exception being a solitary battered desk dead centre which must have evaded capture from the janitor. Not even a scavenger would be able to find use for such an uneven, wobbly thing, he supposed.

The now decrepit banner reading 'Team Terabithia' hung intolerable loose on the now covered and debilitated window, as if struggling with every last ounce just to hang on. Jess stole a glance at Leslie, who was lying face down on the solitary desk that they had all crowded round – long ago.

His footsteps thudded against the concrete no matter how lightly he pressed. Lord, the silence was painful.

"Gee, it's cold in here, don't you think?" Jess said, hoping for even an angry retort. Leslie remained as stationary as the feds during Hurricane Katrina, her light breathing the only indication that she was even alive.

Jess tried a chuckle at his lowbrow humour, but it came out more like a dying seal.

It appeared the 'plan' hadn't exactly succeeded. Jess' brow furrowed, stretching his top self-consciously. The air in this room felt oppressive and foostie like a mouldy sandwich. Weighed down by moments that were now confined to memory; a stuffy museum filled with things no one was interested in, but couldn't really avoid either.

"Time... you can't stop it." Leslie's voice was muffled and hoarse, Jess couldn't help but wince. He quickly decided to get right down to the matter, he never was any good at pretending anyway.

"It didn't work then, your plan I mean," Jess said, referencing the mad cacophony of rhetoric she'd been blabbering about all morning.

It wasn't a question. Leslie didn't answer. She didn't need to. Jess watched as she shifted slightly as if awakening. But she didn't lift her head, so he continued talking to her back, outstretched and defeated.

"Remember what you said... the first time we were all here?" Jess was half talking to himself, such was his desperation to lift even his own spirits. The room was suffocating and lifeless as had been said previously, but – it didn't deserve it.

It had only been a silly, unofficial after-school club. The type seen across the world. Nothing particular spectacular or memorable, but nice, Jess reflected, nodding to himself. The type of 'nice' feeling you got when you finished tidying your room or managed to complete your homework before bed.

He wanted to revive that 'nice' atmosphere, if only for a second.

"You stood there." Jess pointed to the door, and he could almost feel the room looking with him. "Stood there and even though we were all strangers, even though we looked like we hated each other... You stood there, stood there and smiled. 'Art is what you can get away with and', that's what you said, over all our angry questions."

"I thought Wonda was going to kill me," Leslie said weakly, voice pained.

Jess laughed lightly, remembering the fiery girl he'd last seen, it must have been, what, a whole year ago? "Yeah, remember what you said to shut us all up?"

"If you stick with me, you'll find your own end to that sentence, and it's gonna be one hell of an adventure along the way," Leslie repeated the sentence word for word reverently, as if she'd kept it fresh in her mind ever since. It was illuminating to discover that Leslie didn't simply run to the future with reckless abandon, but paused and reflected on what had gone on before like everyone else. Even Leslie Burke couldn't escape the past. Even she, a queen, could have regrets, could have her fantasy impeded by baggage and other unpleasantries.

"I had a dream the other day of round about that time," he said as an afterthought, eyes wide and wistful. "Yeah, about three years ago, wasn't it? The first time I stayed over at your house. I remember you made that daft promise about – ah, well, I guess I can't talk. I still haven't finished that 'art' sentence either."

Leslie didn't respond, in fact, her melancholy seemed only to grow as she turned fully away from him, shutting off again. Lord, smooth as always, Aarons. Way to stick your foot in it.

He felt like his presence was only irritating her, so he decided it best to get back to class before Mrs Myers had a cardiac arrest. He got up to leave, but a sudden desire to say something meaningful like she often did for him overtook his senses.

"Look, Leslie... I get that you want to make a difference, be different... just, well, these things take time. Do you think any of the great people of the past had anything handed to them? No, they had to hone their skills and keep on working hard by doing little jobs and taking on responsibility at school or work, and... eh, that sort of stuff. Not everyone can be as naturally gifted or have the same imagination as them, but you can still be happy. Right?"

He straightened a little, heart beating a little softer as he felt like he'd suddenly taken a growth spurt. "It's like my Dad always says, 'you gotta start small,' er, what was the second part? 'Walk before ya run' I think..." Jess trailed off lamely, feeling that same undercurrent of embarrassment that he got whenever he said something terribly stupid.

Leslie gave no reaction. He sighed with resignation. No effect.

"See ya, Leslie," he said as he closed the door. He thought he heard her call out his name, but it didn't sound like Leslie so he brushed it off as wishful thinking, continuing down the long narrowed halls that now seemed to contain so much history, leaving very little room for any possible future.

Later in the afternoon, back in the crowded and overcooked classroom he'd grown out of long ago, Jess Aarons mulled over the algebra question that was currently residing in his jotter with impudence. Lord, wasn't Maths was supposed to be logical? He scratched his head, hoping an answer might fall out with a little encouragement. Maths was exactly what he didn't need at this moment, a spiteful nemesis throwing cement onto his path.

He was worried about Leslie, he admitted to himself. While her exuberance being turned down a few notches could only be healthy in his desire to reach 16. Seeing someone like Leslie depressed for any period of time was like seeing a kid crying as you entered a funfare. It sort of... made you feel a little ashamed for some reason.

He needn't have worried.

"Miss Burke?" Mrs Myers started, confusion winning out against anger as Leslie Burke barged through the door ceremoniously. Arms orchestrating an unwillingly audience 'engrossed' in their studies.

"Yaaahhhoooo," Leslie sang in what she thought was – actually, Jess shook his head, there it was, he'd given up trying to figure out what actually happened inside her head.

"You're looking at." Leslie paused, standing beside Mrs Myers, arms open as if she were about to embrace them all, or perhaps more appropriately to Jess, strangle them all. "The new school president!"

A sea of faces that sailed on bewilderment permeated the class, except for one face that was sinking without a trace. Jess Aarons collapsed onto his desk, already exhausted and feeling somehow partly responsible by the newest upcoming debacle. Only one phrase was appropriate here. "Oh, lord."

Didn't she realise that there was already a school president? One couldn't simple make themselves the President, that defied the whole point of working hard and meriting such an honour! Yet he was much too wise to waste his breath on Leslie when she had _that_ look on her face. The 'I'm gonna poke something dangerous with a stick to see what happens' kind of look.

It appeared many agreed with Jess' sentiments as variations of 'what the hell?' reverberated around the room. Leslie nodded her head, grin all-encompassing.

She spoke as if in triumph, unleashing a 'Leslie Burke special' fit for a completely different kind of restaurant. "You better get ready for an adventure, everyone. Art is what you can get away with, and I'm a masterpiece."

Wait, this was an adventure? Boring would be sorely missed...

* * *

Author's Confessions: The original first chapter revised slightly. I've attempted to tighten the grammar and general writing style: more showing rather than telling; more 'saids'; less adjectives and adverbs and less rambling from Jess/me. I still go overboard on occasion, but writing is always a balancing act. As a certain someone would say; there's more guidelines than rules in writing.

Anyway, hopefully readers will find themselves a little less confused by this. I do sometimes have to remind myself that some people do read this and that while it's patronising to spell things out, it's even worse to have you scratching your heads. I've tried to emphasise the passage of time in this chapter as well as Leslie's goals and motivations. In retrospect this would've been a good opportunity to develop the character of the school, but at the same time it would've been unnatural for Jess to really think about that sort of thing without a suitable prod.

And I'm aware that Jess might come across as a bit whiney, but remember that he's a 15 year old boy (hormones!) and, as with anyone, should be judged on his actions rather than his private thoughts. Same goes with Leslie, who we never see when she's not with her best friend for the last three and a bit years.

Thanks for reading and feedback is always appreciated

Shamo9


	3. What Do You Do?

Head in the Clouds

Chapter Three

What Do You Do?

_Had her own definition of cool_

Revised: 11/7/10 (originally chapter two)

* * *

"Ka-kah, I have it!" Leslie was bouncing on her heels like a spoiled brat who'd taken the sack race on sports day way too seriously. The cosmic vibrations of Leslie's self-gloating caused Mrs Myers chair to topple over with a protesting screech.

Jess could only sigh in sympathy as Mrs Myers stuttered as if she'd been shot. He of course was far too 'burnished' to let it faze him.

"Leslie," Jess hissed from his seat, but she was oblivious to her surroundings. Oblivious to sense more like.

"Unification, remember I was talking about it earlier, Jess?"

Before Jess could blink Leslie had grabbed him by the collar, swirling blue eyes epileptic with madness, demanding confirmation of her 'brilliance'. Don't bring him into this! He wanted no involvement.

"Leslie," Jess said, wiping the spit that Leslie had so politely slavered all over him with a detached distaste, "that's lovely, but could you possibly tell me later, okay?"

"Why?" Her expression of befuddlement must have been reminiscent to that of an Ancient Egyptian being told the Earth was in fact round. Lord, she really was unsure as to what she was doing wrong.

"'Cause," Jess tried to say it as slow and as loud as possible, least it penetrate her thick skull, "we're still in class."

Finally Leslie noticed, glancing at the class as if they'd all sprouted an extra head. She sat down reluctantly, grumpily correcting her chair with a loud thud – as if they'd all done her some grave injustice.

This all left Jess to signal to Mrs Myers that the crisis had been averted, she could now continue the lesson. He squirmed with remorse as Mrs Myers opened and closed her mouth like a fish. Lord, he'd never envisioned a day when he'd feel anything other than passive loathing for his irascible teacher.

He tried to return to the doodle from earlier, but now all he could see was Leslie laughing like a megalomaniac, Mrs Myers weeping in the background as she was poked with a pitch fork. Jess closed his eyes, fearing if he thought about it for too long his head might explode at the sheer lunacy.

"If you've got a problem with how things are run, why not go to the student council?"

It was the end of school and Leslie's outburst had invoked the curiosity of Mai, a fellow classmate with a tendency to butt in. They had lingered behind in the empty corridors, Jess reluctantly slowing his pace.

"Student council..." Leslie's eyes narrowed. "Never heard of such a thing."

How was it even possible to 'never hear' of such a thing? It was like living in Paris and conveniently missing the Eiffel Tower even know it was a constant emblem on the horizon.

"Really, but they always speak at the end of assemblies, are you sure you've never heard of them? They aren't very good, but that President is... oh..." Lord, Mai's face seemed to brighten like an oven as she flicked a hair past her ear shyly, eyes unfocused and dreamy.

"What, them?" Leslie was unaffected by the girl's gushing, stopping suddenly to face Mai, hands outstretched in amazement.

Mai's face returned to clarity. "So you have heard of them... There's about ten members, I think. They all direct the big school events and make rules, enforce them as well – kinda scary when you think about it."

Leslie had a far away look in her eyes as she rubbed her chin. Lord, was there a bug going around because everyone seemed to be zoning in and out of consciousness. "I always thought they were members of the circus trying to recruit."

Jess couldn't contain himself any more. "Wha-?"

"The way they hold those strange speakers and talk a load of gibberish that is either derivative or boring - or both."

Jess rolled his eyes. "They were talking about litter in the school."

Leslie shrugged. "Oh, well, the delivery was off. Delivery is key."

"What was wrong with it?" Jess demanded, their voices now producing a strange sort of heightened echo in the otherwise deserted corridors.

Leslie's hands moved somnambulent, rubbing the battered and worn wall of the corridor that promised a thousand stories. Jess noticed the interrogating white lights from the corridor roof - that flickered every so often as if it were breathing - reflected in Leslie's blue eyes, a picture of solemnity. "It didn't... feel right."

Leslie's words held a quiver of vulnerable emotion that made even Mai's heart flutter. Jess broke the spell. "You just weren't paying attention!"

Leslie shook her head, a few 'tsks' on the tip of her tongue. "Jess, don't project yourself onto me. Just because you have a penchant for staring absent-mindedly doesn't mean we all have to suffer from that very same affliction, but, no-" Leslie grabbed his arm dramatically, staring into his eyes with unabated passion. "We can overcome your little 'obstacle' together. Remember to learn from your imperfections; never forget, they make you who you-"

"You know you aren't fooling anyone, Leslie." Jess forcefully detached himself from her death grip, shaking his head.

"Yeah, it got away from me there." She paused, composing herself for a moment before bursting out again – the ever trusty ball of emotion – like a goldfish with a limited memory that constantly lived in a word that was new and glorious, filled with mysterious that were solved again and again. Never aged, never bored. "Now anyway, back to business. I'm sure you know what we have to do now?"

Jess almost envied her. Almost. As she waited so 'politely' for a response he decided to humour her. "Well?"

Her face burst into that game changing grin as if Jess had thrown her a sumptuous bone. "Confront this... organisation of course."

"Leslie, the last time you 'confronted' someone they had to-"

"Wonda's fault." Leslie's reply was more like a reflex – grin unmoving.

Jess rubbed his forehead, muttering tiredly, "Leslie, you insulted the guy in three different languages, he was going to get the hint eventually."

"He only broke his façade as a result of Wonda's intimidating behaviour. Delivery is key, learn this."

"She was trying to restrain him from knocking you out."

"Looked more like a preemptive strike to me."

"Lord, what part of restrain don't you understand?"

Mai stared bemusedly at the pair, unable to compete. Their sentences practically tripped over each others, anticipating the other's retort before it was even uttered. She fleetingly wondered if they always lived like this...

"Oh, a revolving chair, I love these!"

Mai had kindly and efficiently directed them towards the student council's headquarters. She'd claimed she was too busy with homework to actually confront them, which left Jess resigned to his own piling load of homework that would surely on grow arms and legs by the time he got home.

After a quick word with May Belle, he and Leslie had rushed to the headquarters. They were disappointed, or at least Jess was, to find the room empty. Leslie the picture of contentment as she spun around like a tornado on a fancy leather chair, which looked as new as the day it had had its undoubtedly grand price tag removed.

"Wonder where they all are?" Jess said as he walked around the bright, advanced and air conditioned epicentre of the council.

It was all very... clean. White tiles adorned the walls with a sea-blue carpet - that would make his mother green with envy - cuddling his feet. Jess studied his reflection in the massive wide-screen television that demanded attention, not dust. Probably bigger than Joyce Ann, he thought idly, brushing down his unruly hair and licking his teeth experimentally. The only blemish on its otherwise faultless record was a dingy cupboard covered with grime that seemed to confirm that this was still Lark Creek.

Leslie eventually grew tired of her incessant spinning. "This isn't good practice, posted missing from duty at the first calling - I'm going to look for them" she said, launching off the chair and stumbling like a drunkard.

"Leslie-"

"I'll be back soon, or not – whoah - depending on your definition." She staggered away, flicking her head to the side repeatedly as if something was stuck in her ear.

Jess stood around awkwardly for a while before reclining in a black leather sofa. He used the word 'in' deliberately, lord, he'd only ever seen ones this size on television. He took a few cautious sniffs before sitting down, unfortunately it was so big that he couldn't help but slide slowly and inevitably down; toes barely clinging to the ground as if he were a dependent toddler. Lord, better grip the armrests, he thought, feeling that same thumping of the chest you get on a volatile roller-coaster.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Jess shoot up quickly - or as quickly as he could, having to frantically twist back and forth to gain some leverage, the sofa emitting a horrible squeaking sound as the leather resisted. Great first impressions, Aarons.

He found himself staring at several members of the student council, who – judging by their frowning demeanours - didn't look enthralled to see him. Jess counted five of them – three boys and two girls all with matching student council insignia on their flawless, uniformed chests.

A boy at the front with massive spectacles that almost served as a mask straightened slightly, as if he were attempting to display authority over the others. He was fairly small of stature, with pale white skin and jet black hair waxed down to his skull to such an extent that it looked like it belonged in a shop window rather than on two moving legs.

"I take it you're that Leslie Burke's... associate, right?" The domineering glasses scowled in his direction.

"I prefer to call myself her victim, but whatever works for you." Jess tried to keep his voice level and diplomatic. He'd been called a lot of derogatory terms over the years, mostly from his own flesh and blood, but Leslie's 'associate' was pushing hard for top spot.

The boy with the glasses gripped the doorway tightly, jaw set even tighter.

"We've heard she's been causing quite the problem with this..." The boy looked like he'd gotten something stuck in his throat. "Appointment."

Hhhmm, it appeared news travelled fast in Lark Creek, or maybe it was more a result of Leslie being incredibly loud? Jess was hedging his bets on the 'nothing else worth talking about' option.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Jess actually meant it as well, although he couldn't help but feel like a shoddy medium the way he was speaking for someone not present.

"Yes, well, so you should." The glasses boy seemed to be growing into his niche character. "We can't allow this to continue. The student council was elected by the masses to bring stability to the school, allowing it to progress to its maximum potential. I – we won't allow that to be jeopardised under any circumstances."

Jess winced under the boy's unmitigated vehemence – and not because he didn't agree. "I'd warn you not to shout like that."

"Why exactly is that?" the boy was getting more forceful now; words drenched in contempt, knuckles white from his grip on the doorway.

"Er, it sounds a bit... confrontational... You know? You really don't want to provoke her." Jess was trying to his best to mollify them: smile, act friendly, that's it – unfortunately the brief mention of Leslie was his undoing.

"_He_r? Yes, where is this, Leslie?" He looked around dismissively like someone hunting an irritating fly. "It is time we had a little, shall we say, war of words? The student council will not tolerate such action, we will strike ba-"

The doomed glasses kid was interrupted by an ear-splitting, war-like shrill. "Ka-kah!"

"Ka – wha?"

Jess stood resigned as the boy disappeared from the doorway, followed by the foot of one Leslie Burke. Oh well, he did warn the poor kid after all. This is what happened when you got too big for your boots... you got one in the mouth?

"Challenge graciously accepted," Leslie said as she landed gracefully, brimming with mischief. The boy's carcass skidded to a halt a couple of metres away, face down. A knock out.

"Oh my God, you killed him!" several of the members screamed as they frantically scattered to their fallen friend's aid like distraught ants. Jess shook his head, the boy never stood a chance. It was like trying to outrun a nuclear bomb.

Leslie rudely poked the moaning boy before she was pushed aside by his worried allies.

"Nah, he's still a live. The force is strong with this one. Ka–kah, I've always wanted to say that."

"Leslie," Jess started, rubbing the bridge of his nose as the screeching voices of the students mixed with their comrade's groans of pain deafened him. "Why?"

"Ppffttt, ambiguous again, Jess."

He grabbed her shoulders to stop her doing anything else, voice snapping."Why did you bloody dropkick the guy?"

"He instigated the war. His fault." Leslie pointed at the fallen boy out of the corner of her eye without any remorse, as if she could toss all blame on him.

Jess tried to explain to Leslie that this was in fact the 21st century, and humans had matured to the extent where negotiations could be conducted peacefully first. Violence was absolutely a last resort.

While he was sure many would be campaigning vociferously for a Nobel Peace Prize nomination with that sort of speech, Leslie could only muster a casual shrug. "Communication can be a trifle difficult during times of war; have to watch for third parties listening in and s-"

"Leslie," he admonished, although she seemed impervious to reason, hugging him spontaneously as if something had been lost in translation.

At least the students seemed to be recovering from the trauma. The boy Leslie had kicked was now at least vertical, albeit with the help of his friends. They gathered round Leslie and Jess; one of the girls of the group took a deep shuddering breath before confronting Leslie.

"Aggression was not our intention."

"Well aren't you clever, that rhymes." Leslie looked as if she were about to pat the girl on the head.

Jess had a sudden desire to do a lot more than pat the demonic blonde on the head. He dispensed with her grip on his waist, untangling them before she decided to burrow there. "Lord, Leslie could you at least listen to what they have to say before you kick them again?"

Leslie flicked her wrist in the air with a guffaw. "Puh, Jess, act first, talk later, never hesitate – don't you know anything about warfare?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, ceasing the game.

"Very well." Leslie sagged slightly and bowed to the girl. "Take me to your leader – I've always wanted to say that as well, I'm on fire! Yahooo!"

A vein on the girl's forehead visibly throbbed as she shook with anger. "I'm afraid our president is current in London facilitating important negotiations that could benefit this school greatly."

"Ah, London, lovely place. Don't fancy the buses but what can you do? Rain is nice though, I like the rain..."

The girl seemed to grow more comfortable, placing her arms by her hips in a very authoritative way. Words coming out less rigidly. "Quite, well, it appears you are very... passionate about your ideas. As a fri- a representative of the president, I am willing to make concessions if you would please take a seat inside where we can talk this over like adults. My name is Susie."

The girl, Susie, outstretched her hand in a thoroughly polite, reasonable fashion. Jess couldn't help but breath easier, at last, reason. It was about as sparse in Jess' life as water to the Sahara desert.

Something seemed to change in Leslie's face when Susie had finished her belated introduction. "No."

"Wha- I'm sorry?" Susie's hand fell limply to her side.

"You have failed my inspection." Leslie crossed her own arms as if to say there was no way she was shaking anything. "A new council is required."

Jess gulped nervously as the bigger boys grew restless, almost draping Leslie in their towering shadows.

Unperturbed, Leslie sighed regretfully, shaking her head. "A noble, virtuous, steadfast government would never make deals with terrorists."

Lord, now she was comparing them to terrorists. Jess closed his eyes, contemplating how he could get out of this with all limbs attached.

"We were trying to make a deal" Susie managed the feat of spitting back her words. Jess watched as her brow knotted and he wondered if that felt as painful as it looked. Leslie just continued in that incongruously disappointed tone, waving her forefinger at the council.

"You were only willing to negotiate with me once I knocked out one of your partners. Cowardice. That isn't your first failing either, I've had a few anonymous complaints about you lot. Tell me this: what have you done about the excessive bullying in the school? What have you done about the lack of proper eating facilities? What have you done about the lack of proper equipment that is hampering the education of so many? Look-"

Leslie pointed towards the council's headquarters. "You've got fancy chairs, powerpoint projectors, wide-screen televisions – what are you actually doing with all that fund raising money?"

Jess frowned slightly, he was sure Leslie had said she wasn't aware of the council...

The girl was livid, a layer of anger bubbling over, the boys beside her had to visibly restrain her from jumping on Leslie.

"HOW... DARE... YOU!"

Leslie leaned back slightly as if smelling something foul."The first to raise their voice admits they've lost the argument. Oh, yes, I know how you belittle the younger pupils when they come looking to their council for help. There's been an increase in missing possession lately, you wouldn't know anything about this misfortune?"

The boy that Leslie had attacked straightened his glasses, lips contorted into a snarl – shoe mark imprinted jaw and all. "Look, I get that you're a little... funny in the head, so I'll spell it out for your benefit like I did earlier today."

"There's ten of us altogether and only one of you." The boy's chest puffed out as he poked it proudly. "We, we are the student council, a group with real, formal powers who have been elected by the 'younger pupils' and work damn hard for this school. Who actually do something constructive and worthwhile with their lives... tell me, again Leslie, what do you do? "

"Yeah," one of the bigger boys huffed under his breath, leering down down at Leslie. "We don't need to take crap from a loner freak like you, if you wanna fi-"

"As I was saying." The boy with the glasses reprimanded his ally with a stern side-look as Jess felt Leslie's slender body stiffen beside him. "If we can act maturely for a moment... Tell me, Leslie, let me understand what goes on in that head of yours. What do you possibly hope to gain from this... this farce?"

Leslie closed her eyes, curling three fingers outward as if she were uncoiling, a righteous fire in her eyes he hadn't seen for years. "One, I could rid Lark Creek of your pathetic vitriol without lifting a finger. Two, I only pick the best, and that's Jess. This fact is to your detriment, not mine. Three,"

If ever Leslie were to come face to face with a mighty and terrifying demon horde... they'd surely ask for some pointers. She boldly approached the antsy bigger boy, matching his seething expression with a fearsome, confident one of her own. "See this? I'd advise you to save this face into your little stored cache of useless information because you'll never see anything like it again."

She effortlessly transformed back into the happy-go-lucky worldly girl that first marked Jess over three years ago. "Jess, are you ready to go?" she said like a stereotypically sweet little girl. Lord, he envisioned pigtails and a plaited rose skirt matching perfectly with that saccharine tone of voice.

"You can't just come and go as you please," The boy with the glasses slammed his foot down for emphasis, letting his glasses slip carelessly. "What authority do you think you have, huh?

Smiling a smile that promised a hidden secret, Leslie proclaimed in her grandest, most resplendent queen voice yet: "The highest authority in the land: Terabithia."

Several of the council members snorted with derision. They were settled now, and their expressions were once again dominated with anger rather than confusion.

"Enough," Susie spluttered, although she looked slightly more pale than before, Jess noted a bromide-like determined countenance on her face – it was a look he'd seen continuously for over three years. "Fine, if you want to act like a child, we'll settle this like children. That's the only way to deal with people like _you_, we'll make an example."

Susie took a deep, narcissistic breath, preparing herself for the moment. "If you want a confrontation so badly, we'll just have to make an example of you in front of everyone. Prove to the younger pupils that the council is not to be trifled with. That we are the ones they should follow, not you."

She nodded to the boy in the glasses, who chuckled with greedy mirth as he informed to his waiting audience. "We will be supervising the dodgeball tournament for the junior years tomorrow at 2:30pm. Show up if you dare, and we'll see if you have the – winning mentality."

Jess tried to hold in his biting remark, 'show up if you dare'? Was this kid getting fed lines by forgotten B-movie actors?

"Now, if you please," Susie said genteelly, requesting that Jess and Leslie kindly move out of their way so they could get into the clubroom.

Leslie stood firm, tapping her foot lightly like an impatient child waiting for Santa. "You know," she said, apparently to herself. "That always irritates me. The cliff hanger, the to be continued. Do you know how frustrating it is to wait for a new chapter in a story, or even a sequel? Why must we all be dominated by the wait, why does it always have to be another hour, another day, another year? Why not right here, right now – I'm tired of clichés. Live for the moment!"

Susie lifted her head in a dignified manner. "That's all fine and good but remember, we're the student council because we decide-"

Leslie raised her hand to mock Susie's 'manner', expression that of a nervous child asking the teacher for permission. "Oh, sorry, excuse me. Correction: you're the student council because I've allowed it to happen."

It was the last straw for one. "Why you little-"

The boy with the glasses acted fast, blocking his larger friend's fist, which hung perilously close to Leslie's head. "Easy, Brian – not like this."

"Quite right, too," Leslie made a concurring humming sound in the back of her throat, nodding in synch. "Wouldn't want you to miss your own farewell party. I dare say it's been a while since I've had to, what do young people call it, bust a move? Anyway, cheery-bye."

She grabbed Jess' hand, skilfully sliding out of the doorway before sauntering off. Jess sighed with relief as the final member slammed the door loudly on them, leaving no doubt that they certainly weren't welcome.

"Well that's a bit rude." Leslie stretched her arms out above her head as she yawned loudly.

"Leslie, are you sure about this?" He didn't try to hide his concern.

"Nope, it's more fun that way. All I need from you, before you ask, is to be the best of humanity." She stuck her tongue out at him before skipping down the corridor. Jess tightened the strap of his bag, shaking his head as he said tiredly:

"Leslie, the exit's the other way."

"Oh... right." Leslie seemed to be scouting something in the distance involving the school for a moment before smiling sheepishly. She nimbly dodged past Jess as she sprinted to the end of the corridor. Why did everything involving Leslie result in running?

He followed, wondering how on Earth Leslie was supposed to survive against an organised, well drilled unit like the student council when she couldn't even find her way out of school.

Jess wasn't quite done with Leslie for the day. May Belle still demanded a reading session from Leslie and the little girl could pry better than anyone Jess knew.

He had been initially wary of having Leslie read May Belle some of the more complex fiction she had at her disposal. Leslie had argued passionately however, that even if she didn't understand fully, as long as May Belle was fed good stuff as a child, as an adult she would demand good stuff as a prerequisite.

Leslie had won Jess' mum over with an anecdote about how Bill and Judy had managed to teach Leslie several languages as a baby solely through communicating to her in different tongues. With his mum on side, Jess could find no further obstacles, merely taking a backseat as she read even to Joyce Ann.

For her part, Joyce Ann was more interested in playing with Leslie's hair than anything else. Surprisingly, Leslie didn't object most of the time, today even allowing Joyce Ann to continue her ministrations as she read to May Belle. Leslie had tried to convince Brenda and Ellie to join them but, well, the answer had been a pretty conclusive negative.

Jess usually took the opportunity to catch up on his drawings with the girls distracted. It wasn't like they lived in separate room though, so he could only roll his eyes as May Belle dissected Leslie's confrontation with the council.

"Are you sure, Les?" May Belle's eyes were large and concerned.

"Weren't you and your compatriots complaining about them so vociferously?"

"Yeah – we hate them, they're mean," May Belle said quickly before sobering. "But, I dunno, they might..." May Belle shifted uneasily on her bed for a moment before whispering, "Hurt you as well."

"Puh, beautiful, I thought you'd have more faith in your queen than that. Look at me." She tapped her head for effect, "made of steel - and plastic, the Earth would throw me up anyway. "

May Belle didn't appear convinced but Leslie continued gamely anyhow. "Worrying runs in the family I see – but on to more important matters." Leslie flicked her wrist as if she were throwing away the old topic, smiling brightly. "What did you make of Blanche?"

"I felt a little sorry for her, she was kinda bonkers."

Leslie burst into fits of laughter at May Belle's 'bonkers' impression. "He, he, he, that's one way of putting it."

Jess lifted his head from his current project, he was pleased to see May Belle continue to open up to Leslie. In truth, they'd always been fairly receptive of each other, but Jess had been slightly worried about Leslie's temperament as a potential 'teacher'.

He had been surprised but not displeased to find that Leslie never corrected May Belle, or even criticised her for that matter. She just seemed genuinely interested in May Belle's opinion, although he never could tell with Leslie - and he was half-convinced that Leslie actually preferred it like that.

With a perpetual smile still playing on her lips, Leslie tilted her head to the side as the now sleeping Joyce Ann snored lightly. "Do you think she deserved what happened to her?"

"Nope, that wasn't nice, not nice at all," May Belle said immediately.

Leslie nodded sagely. "Suppose – why do you think things went so wrong for her?"

"Cause of that Stanley. I don't like him at all, he was evil." May Belle punctuated the end of the statement by making a rude face.

Leslie nodded again. "Fair enough, call me sentimental, but in my opinion I wouldn't say he's evil, or at least not completely."

"Really?"

Leslie's expression for once was stoic. "He was just trying to survive, to preserve his way of life, like a carnivore kills to live."

"Huh?"

Leslie scratched her neck, shifting Joyce Ann slightly on her lap. "Well, it's like a shark eating someone. I'm sure the guy getting eaten isn't best pleased, but the shark is just trying to survive. It's hungry, there's no malice in that. Would you deny it the chance to live?"

"I dunno..."

"You don't have to agree, I'm not sure I necessarily do either, but it's important to look objectively rather than subjectively. The bigger picture. Like a lot of terrorists for example. A lot of them have been indoctrinated since childhood, it's an easy thing to do. That's not justification, just an acknowledgement that they're misguided. We all used to be misguided – what with such things as public executions to exact revenge – not that we're perfect now. In some parts, we're still the same race that kills and enslaves over just about anything."

Leslie tucked Joyce Ann into her bed carefully, humming a tune that made Jess lose his rhythm, frustratingly having to start again.

May Belle seemed to be chewing over Leslie's comments, eventually coughing lightly when she was done. "Leslie, I've been wondering. Why did Stanley not like Blanche – why didn't she fit in?"

Leslie sat back down beside May Belle. "Hmmm, well, because she was different, an unknown who upset the status quo. In my opinion she wasn't mad, she was too sane. She'd seen so many terrible things, done even more – don't you think you'd want to forget all that, to pretend... if you could?" Jess was positive that Leslie glanced in his direction as she spoke, but it was so brief he decided it was probably just his imagination.

Oh lord, he'd lost it again. Jess grumbled as he scribbled over another failed attempt at drawing Mrs Myers cooking in a stove, a pitchfork mixing her into the soup.

"I suppose..." May Belle said.

Leslie looked to the ceiling, deep in another world. "I don't want realism – interesting guy Tennessee Williams, a bit like Blanche in a way, condemned for being who he was."

"Really, con- dened?" May Belle stumbled over the word, but the slip couldn't quench her desire for gossip as she leaned in eagerly. She was getting better.

Leslie shrugged. "Yeah, being homosexual back then was difficult to say the least. It was something to be hidden, something wrong."

"Homosexual?" May Belle's face contorted in confusion.

Leslie shook herself, returning her eyes from the ceiling. "Huh - oh, right, it means a gay man."

The explanation only increased May Belle's confusion. "Eh?"

Leslie crossed her arms, nodding severely. "You don't know, well, I'm sure Jess will be happy to tell, he's the one with experience."

"What?" Jess lifted his head, throwing a scowl Leslie's way. Don't spread salacious lies.

Leslie didn't even bother looking at Jess. "Yes... Scott."

Jess shot up, knocking his art from the bed, old memories rekindled in an instant. "That was sexual harassment! Your fault, not mine. We were trying to clean up your mess – again. Bloody Wonda Kay and her crazy ideas. "

The door opened with a loud whine. "Excuse me, Jess?" It was his father, and he was eyeing up Jess with a guarded sort of look that spelt trouble.

"Eh, nothing, nothing," Jess said, attempted laughter coming out as more of a squeak.

His father just grunted, apparently content to leave it at that for now after he saw Leslie – Jess gulped with relief.

"Will you be joining us for dinner, Leslie?" his father said.

"Oh, thanks, but there's some things I have to do right away."

He nodded, looking at Jess pointedly as he spoke. "Nothing bad I hope."

As he tried to close the door, Jess could almost feel a wheel turn in Leslie's head. "Hey, why don't you join us next time?" she said, bouncing on the bed jovially.

His father turned pale, eyes shifting left and right for help. "I'm sorry?" he asked, playing the fool.

Leslie lifted up her copy of A Streetcar Named Desire. "Reading sessions, we're doing Hamlet next, him and his wonderful antic dispositions."

His father made a deep sound in his throat, stalling for time. "I'll see what I can do," he said before running like a scolded dog, not even bothering to close the door.

Jess and May Belle chuckled while Leslie beamed. After helping to tidy May Belle's stuff, Leslie made her own way to the door – stopping dramatically in the doorway.

"Okay, soundbite for today. Right, how about - 'Impossible is nothing'– ugh, when did I resort to stealing lines from Nike?" Leslie stuck out her tongue with distaste, face transforming into a grimace. Jess shook his head as May Belle giggled.

Recovering quickly, Leslie waved at them both. "Farewell beautiful, no, not you Jess. Oh, and remember, tomorrow will be - the bomb." She winked at him before dashing off – running away as always.

"What does that even mean?" Jess said to the absent space, she was always too fast for him. Sighing at the prospect of another eventful day, he almost forgot about May Belle, who started tugging on his shirt incessantly.

"Jess, what does it mean? Tell me, tell me," she said, whining as she squeezed her pudgy cheeks

Startled at being woken from deep thought, Jess scrambled for a second. "Er - what? The bomb? Well I guess-"

"No, homoe... sexal..." May Belle interrupted, stumbling over her words again. Jess gulped as she leaned forward expectantly. She waited with patience, planting herself down on his bed without a care in the world. What! Jess looked around, begging for some help. Leslie? Dad?

"Oh, erm, well – you see – it's kinda hard to explain, erm, oh lord." And so the most uncomfortable conversation of his life began.

That girl would be the death of him, most definitely.

* * *

Author's Confessions: Same old story as chapter two in terms of revising things. I do wonder if I go overboard with Leslie and Jess' arguing like the quintessential married couple sometimes. My argument for it is that best friends tend to share very intimate things that would leave a passer by scratching their heads. Added to the fact that Leslie and Jess created their own private imaginary world to 'escape' and it sort of fits, at least for me.

As for the student council, at this point in the story I want people, like Jess, to right them off. I deliberately tried to paint them as cliched villains, heck, a student council as an antagonist is pretty cliched in and of itself! What is important to realise is that they're young and inexperienced, like Jess, and have to make do with what they think they're supposed to do.

Also consider the fact that their leader is gone; this council is effectively a body without a head. Susie is the main one to look out for, a less experienced Leslie who had a older, wiser person to shield her. Sure they have a few silly people that resort to unscrupulous measures, but that is indicative of the world in general.

Thanks for reading and feedback is always appreciated

Shamo9


	4. A Bad World

Head in the Clouds

Chapter Four

A Bad World

_She lived in her own world_

Revised: 11/7/10 (originally chapter three)

* * *

Like a sleeping giant entering a feverish nightmare, Lark Creek Elementary stirred, as if in response to the rise of the Sun.

Members of the student council manoeuvred their way around the gym hall in the early morning light. Such was the responsibility they held, they took it upon themselves to enter school at such an ungodly hour to prepare the preliminaries for the dodgeball tournament.

In completely unrelated matters, it allowed some of the more brazen members the lucrative opportunity to 'inspect' their fellow classmates' lockers in the otherwise deserted school.

Many students used the school's mailing system for expense purposes, and the council had graciously accepted the responsibility of delivering packages to lockers courtesy of their universal key.

This key allowed them access to every possible facet of the school building – save for the principal's office. Even that didn't stop them, on occasion, from eyeing up the obstinate door curiously every once and a while.

The boy with the abnormally large glasses kept his eyes closed as he stretched his rigid limbs on the corridor wall outside the gym. The lights above slept peacefully, sunlight creeping in rudely from a nearby window.

Honestly, the things he did for this school... If it hadn't been for them none of these ungrateful twerps would even have a gym to play in. Certainly he would be the first to admit it wasn't exactly state of the art, he snorted, more like a glorified shed put to creative use. But still, he didn't see anyone else coming up with ideas.

That was what they did, the student council. They solved problems. Time was a problem, as was money. Thus, the principle was more than happy to let them share the load – with a few added incentives thrown in to sweeten the deal.

While his weary body was slowly awoken by the unforgiving stone cold corridor wall, he listened with disinterest as Susie directed some of the other members like a well-versed general.

"No, that bench goes there."

"Come on, faster."

He pushed his glasses back to the peak of his nose, blowing on them sporadically to blur his vision even further as he waited in peace. Susie had sent a few of the more robust in their entourage to 'solve a problem', and he was waiting for their return.

They were subtle about all _this_, of course, although he couldn't help but feel they needn't have bothered. The majority of pupils were perfectly conscious of what went 'bump in the morning'. The council was viewed as merciful when they didn't steal anything of value, and justified in enforcing established rule when they occasionally did.

There was a pervasive feeling around the school that the act of telling a teacher was considered 'snitching', which suited him just fine.

Susie was one of those idealists, he reflected, like the old president. She genuinely believed that, since the 'nannying' approach had clearly failed miserably, that they could change people forcefully, like clay sculpted by hand. She took a greater interest than the rest on the younger pupils. believing that through discipline they could be conditioned and manipulated into aspiring young, intelligent people.

Discipline, the boy rolled his eyes, taking a large whiff of the stale morning air. What the kids wanted, in the end, was a quiet life. They were sheep. He nodded. They wanted to fit in, be accepted into the hierarchy, of course they did. Who would willing ostracise themselves? Who would dare stick their neck out. Who would instigate change.

"Leslie Burke." Even the name grumbled between his teeth spitefully.

It wasn't as if the council were unreasonable in their treatment. Heck, they'd worked diligently for years trying to better this school. They didn't ask for anything in return, nor did they receive it, thus the school was in their debt. A debt that was within their right to exercise every once and a while. Sure people would moan and grumble, but did any of them really do anything to stop them? No. And there was a reason.

He noticed from the corner of his eye the girls slowly making their way back from the school office. "Find anything for the girl?"

He was presented with a large object wrapped furiously in packaging that completely hid its true form from the world. The boy smiled crookedly, straightening his posture. They were one step ahead of her. They knew her gimmicks from word of mouth, knew the way she liked to operate. After they were done humiliating her in the tournament, they would find out what nefarious object she had tried to bring into school to save. Then it would be relatively easy to take it back to the locker and catch her red handed.

Result: Expulsion. Problem: solved.

He felt his body almost brighten simultaneously with the others as the last restraints of sleep left them. He traded places with Susie, who was much more restless, pacing the corridor as she mulled over things in her mind.

She found herself staring at her reflection in a nearby window, embracing the unforgiving light as the girls carried the package away to store it in the clubroom for 'safekeeping'.

Susie's eyes lingered on her reflection further as it took on a transparent, almost ethereal complexion; battling with the light for survival. The president had warned her that sometimes good people had to do bad things in order - Susie felt something ache in her chest as she though of him, the feeling turning to a nervous anxiety as the her skin tingled. She would follow his example. Make him proud. Surpass him.

This, this thing. It was unfortunate, difficult - but that made it even more beautiful when it worked, that's what he had said. The president knew, had dealt with arrogant fools who thought they knew best, knew best without even trying.

"We aren't bad people," she recited to the reflection, under her breath. "We just live in a bad world."

Susie abandoned her reflection, returning to the the gym and her band of allies, dutifully readying the school while everyone else slept... and criticized. If being strong enough to do whatever it takes for the greater good made them bad – so be it. Why should she care what they thought? Those ignorant, foolish people... Susie's hand balled into tight, wounded fists as her mind trickled briefly back to her family.

She hesitated for a second as her reflection receded to the light... even despite herself, she still wished they could see.

* * *

_The delectable scented fragrance was inescapable. Jess followed it like a loyal puppy; enchanted, he walked doggedly towards it. Finally, there was nothing between them - although it hardly seemed to matter. He would do anything for her, any possible challenge devised by man._

_An impatience born out of years of frustration, of 'almosts', of 'could've beens' and 'should've beens' overtook him. He ran. Continued to run. The desire to end the agony of the wait, standing on the precipice. Limbs weary, sweat dripping, he felt faint, weak, unworthy and then... finally..._

_She sat there, with a natural grace that one was born with, no, given, given from a higher power; a benevolent God. Strength seemed to be seep into every fibre of his being._

_"Jesse."_

_She said his name... it made his heart flutter that she, Miss Edmunds, would give his name the honour, no, the privilege of gracing her lips. He felt like weeping, like falling to his knees and consecrating this most sacred temple, this, this – no, he refused to describe, to taint. Divulging in words what he was seeing would risk sharing, risk word getting out. _

_This was his... His greatest strength, his source. Only she could say his full name, she had that right – it was hers. Lord, was it hers!_

_"Miss Edmunds..."_

_"Jesse..."_

_He felt like he had just run a marathon. Breathless and weary, he desperately tried to gather himself. "Miss Edmonds, I've always, always-"_

_Miss Edmunds leaned in towards him. Jess felt his heart attack his chest with abandon. Her slow, gradual breathing delicately tickled his cheek, turning him giddy._

_She wanted to say it first. How noble of her; it shook him to his very core that someone as courageous as her would give him the time of day._

_"Jesse... do you hear the water?"_

_Huh? Here he was, announcing his undying love for her and she was talking about... come to think,yes, he could hear water. Jess looked around. Where was it coming from?_

_He felt the warmth of Miss Edmonds leave him. No, don't go. He tried to yell, but found that words didn't come out. No! No! He scrambled around, feeling a sudden shiver contort his every crevice, like thinly veiled icy spikes._

_"Jesse..." Miss Edmonds called, but now it was faint, far away – behind the water. "Time to wake up."_

The voice of his younger sister, Joyce Ann, was like a cold, hard slap to the face. He awoke, coughing violently, once again denied the resolution to his fantasy.

"You lie!" Joyce Ann said as she continued pouring water on his bed from a canister she held above her head. What was this? She sounded like something out of a bad movie. He jumped from the bed, snatching the bloody thing from her grubby hands.

"Joyce Ann," Jess started, rubbing the icy cold water from his eyes to stay calm. The insolent brat scowled right back at him, unashamedly recalcitrant.

"What... are... you going on about?" he said in between coughs, water straining his weary throat.

"You said we'd play!" she snapped, folding her arms and lifting her head in a very familiar way.

"It's not my fault you bloody fell asleep," he mumbled hoarsely, trying to cope with the disturbing image of Leslie multiplying.

He eventually wheedled the truth out of her like a dentist pulling on a rotten tooth. Leslie had told her about this fun they liked to play and... Jess bent down so he was eye to eye with Joyce. She scowled at first but his serious tone kept her at bay.

"Joyce Ann... If you grow up to think, talk, look or even breath like _her_ then me and Mr Tibbles are disowning you on the spot."

Mr Tibbles was the name of her darned toy bear, the very mention of him perked her interest, eyebrows shooting up. "Disown?"

He placed a hand on her shoulder gravely. "It means you'll be left on your own... forever."

Joyce Ann jerked away from his hand, scandalised as she shook her head in furious denial. "Mr Tibbles wouldn't do that!"

"Wanna bet?"

It weakened her. He watched as an internal dilemma was waged between her ears, her body squirming like a trapped worm. She lasted all of ten seconds before cracking.

Crying out, Joyce Ann rushed away to find her toy bear for reassurance. No doubt having hid it in some secret place before Leslie came in a desperate attempt to show how grown up she was.

Jess wasn't done by a long shot, one look at the current state of his bed was enough to focus he mind. He traversed through the house with deliberate menace. His gait now reduced to a trudge with the added water creating a slushing sound whenever he took a step - much to the amusement of Brenda and Ellie, who congratulated Jess on finally taking that shower as their paths crossed.

In no mood for games he went straight for their heart, blocking the TV with his drenched attire - much to their anguish.

"Jess, what the hell? Move!" They both screamed in between heartfelt moans of agony, heads bending like contortionists to see their beloved idols.

"Where is she?"

"Out with the kid in the back." They forfeited immediately, faces like sour puss. "Now move, come on."

Jess quickly made his way, making sure to dry out his drowning t-shirt on their breakfast.

"Jess," they yelled simultaneously, but the mesmerising lure of the TV was much too strong. He didn't acknowledge his mother as he trudged past her in the kitchen, in no mood for more chores.

"Jess, could you ask the girls if they want something to eat?"

Lord, he supposed he should just starve then? He grunting in response, teeth rattling together as he left the house, the accused's voice already in earshot.

"You gotta put it there, and that's the magic," the squeaky voice of May Belle recited in a poor imitation of their father.

"Magic, huh?" Leslie stared intensely at her own flower pot, her pupils turning black in the reflection of the soil. "Hhhhhmmm, nothing's happening."

Jess sighed at the stupidity of the girl as he entered, his wet grip slipping slightly on the door as he momentarily forgot why he'd come in the first place. "Leslie, it takes days, no weeks for _anything _to happen."

"Weeks..." Leslie's brow knotted in irritation, shaking her head violently as if she had a foul taste in her mouth. "I'm not going to sit around like that, how tedious – you."

Leslie poked the stoic soil. "Are you just going to sit there like some vegetable, wasting your life away? That's no way to live – you've been given an opportunity, a chance. Are you going to waste it? Or are you going to be something, to make an impression that no one can ignore? You know..."

She rubbed her chin, eyes lifting to the sky. "I'm very well connected – being the queen has perks. I could – if you want – get you a position in the court, how does-"

Jess had heard enough. "Leslie. It's a vegetable, and it's not listening."

Leslie's eyes spun back down to the soil with malice. "You mean it's ignoring me?"

Her eyes shifted jarringly from the fiery red anger of the Sun to a constellation of young twinkling stars with a more contemplative gaze. "Or maybe there's a special incantation, May Belle, you did say there was magic involved?"

May Belle looked terrible confused, as if her I.Q results had come back negative. She rubbed her temple, coaxing the answer. "Yeah, but I dunno abou-"

"Leslie!" Jess said, ignoring May Belle's conflicted mumblings. Leslie finally looked in Jess' direction, eyebrows lifting in incredulity as she watched him shiver incessantly.

"Jess, the whole concept of bathing is that you're supposed to dry afterwords. Jeez, look what you're doing to the floor."

"You did this." Jess said, pointing.

Leslie raised her head in a dignified manner, lightly emitting a few 'tsks' in disdain. "Jess, the first conclusion you reach is also reached by the enemy first. Never look for the obvious answer and don't believe in such subterfuge. War is based on deception."

Before he could protest further Leslie grabbed his hand, directing him towards the plant pot she'd been ogling over.

"This." Leslie beamed, shaking his hand excitable. "This is the future of Terabithia."

"A plant pot?"

"No, no, no. Okay, I'll start from the beginning." She theatrically turned to May Belle like a conductor weaving together a piece of music. "Beautiful, get the lights."

"Let's just get on with it okay, " Jess said, holding onto May Belle so she wouldn't get any ideas.

Leslie shrugged. "Very well then. Okay, well you know that Terabithia has long been at war with the Dark Master?"

"No."

"Fighting valiantly to purge an evil that endures to this day?"

"No."

"Our forces are purely defensive minded," Leslie continued, apparently becoming conveniently deaf. "Don't you think it is time to take the initiative? Our Kingdom has become stagnant, our forces lazy. When was the last time we increased our numbers – no, we've been going in the opposite direction. No more: 'Nothing Crushes Us', it is time for: 'Nothing Is Gonna Stop Us Crushing You'."

Jess pressed a finger gingerly to his forehead, she appeared to be satisfied now so he responded. "That's great, but what does this have to do with the plant pot?"

"This plant will allow us to increase our territory and act as a first line of defence." She kind of rubbed her head against the pot like a disturbed mother out of an old Asylum. "Just think, we can conquer Narnia, Middle Eart-"

"Why do we have to increase our territory," Jess reasoned. "We've already got about ten acres–"

"We must expand the Empire." Leslie jumped into the air, fist pumped like Superman as she apparently waited for a freeze-frame that wasn't forthcoming.

Leslie's ideas were about as easy to digest as the Empire State Building. "Since when did Terabithia become some violent ra-

Leslie wasn't listening, too absorbed with her own brilliance, eyes shining like twelve suns at their peak. "'Cause that's what you humans do. Expand! From primordial soup to the flesh and bone you are today. Expansion. You start out so tiny and then: whoooosh! Moving upwards and onwards like a tenacious rodent fleeing its captor – fantastic!" Leslie began the rapturous applause befitting such a monumental declaration...

Lord, stop addressing humans as 'you', you idiot. And stop applauding yourself.

"Interesting simile." Jess turned to be greeted by the familiar speckled face of Bill, waiting at the door and waving a phone in his right hand in way of a welcome. "But I'm a metaphor man myself, infinitely stronger."

"Can I help you, Bill?" Leslie said, bizarrely shielding her plant from his gaze.

"Phone call from some German-"

"Thanks!" Leslie said in a blur as she snatched the phone and ran outside, leaving Bill standing oddly, mouth half-open.

"What's up with her?" Jess said, motioning to the door as May Belle resumed her guardianship of the plants.

Bill chuckled, flicking his hair back behind his ears as he explained. "My new book. It's set in the midst of a futuristic conflict between..." Bill then indulged Jess in a four minute synopsis of all the major plot points. It's not that he wasn't interested, he just wondered if Bill had ever heard of spoilers.

Bill eventually paused for a second, asking with an off the cuff shrug, "Hey, you don't think it's going to her head, do you?"

"No, not at all..." Jess said dryly, holding in a sigh. Yes, declaring war against the student council was perfectly normal behaviour. Well, in Leslie's case...

"You should join us sometime," Bill said, a jovial sort of glint in his eyes as he continued. "It's fascinating stuff. There was this one quote from Sun Tzu – nothing but inspiring - 'The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then-"

"Waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy," Leslie finished, appearing out of nowhere and rolling her eyes as if she were bored.

"Short phone call?" Bill said with a friendly lopsided grin.

"Yes," Leslie said cryptically as she tossed the phone back to Bill, returning quickly to her vulnerable plant.

Bill caught the phone nimbly with one hand. "Your memory is up to scratch, but there's a difference between knowing something and actually understanding it."

Leslie turned, a slow, methodical twist of the body as her eyes shrink to two tiny slits of concentration, quickly mirrored by Bill. The two fierce rivals locking themselves into a deadly stare... Lord, they were a pair of children. No, Jess shook his head as May Belle diligently tended to her subjects, comparing the Burkes to children was an insult to children everywhere.

"She's in the middle of writing a book, you know how she gets funny when she's unstuck," Leslie said while continuing to stare at her father, a competitive smirk forming on her face, the type you gave when you openly admired and respected your opponent, knowing you were in for a hell of a grand stand off.

Jess didn't even have time to dissect the irony of Leslie calling someone else 'funny'. "Leslie, you read thoughts now?"

"Don't need to, that absent stare you have nailed down whenever you're thinking has about the subtly of a - see, there it is, now you're thinking about how amazingly perceptive-"

"Leslie!" His thoughts were currently dominated by the more violent variety. The louder than normal shout emitted startled Leslie, who blinked on impulse before huffing.

Bill bowed his head. "You still have much to learn..."

Competitive edge not dulled, they started bickering over Star Wars like two hungry cubs fighting over the last piece of meat.

"Try to work on the specifics a little more, junior," Bill said finally, waving once more before taking his leave.

"Pppffffttt." She waved her hands to dismiss him, turning to caress her plant pot while mumbling something about 'regicide'.

It seemed like a touching scene of a mother encouraging their child to grow. That was until one looked at the demonic blue eyes emitting some sort of threatening dark energy with a clear message: grow or else.

He thought nothing of it as he remembered something. "Oh, yeah, mum wants to know if you want something to eat?"

"I do, I do!" May Belle yelled excitably, plant forgotten like the turning out of a light.

Leslie gave one of her odd looks, the kind he couldn't read whatsoever. "I'm fine."

"I'm fine as well." May Belle quickly corrected herself before returning to work as if nothing had happened.

Just when Jess was about to reprimand May Belle for her 'Jekyll and Hyde' lunacy, Leslie sprung back into life.

"Do you remember?" Leslie said softly to her, sprouting up beside the girl and giving May Belle her full attention.

May Belle looked up from her plant, expression blank for a moment before biting her lip indecisively. "But Leslie, what if I forget to do it?"

"Don't try to remember the words, words are fleeting, momentary – words can be silenced. Just remember the meaning: never give up, never give in. That lasts... forever." Her eyes seemed to brighten even more if possible by the end, the enthusiasm was infectious it seemed.

"Right!" May Belle nodded firmly, determination etched on her face. Jess grimaced, where did she come up with this stuff?

Leslie clasped her hands onto May Belle's shoulders, rustling them as she winked. "Ka-kah, and don't worry – I'll be there in no time."

May Belle blushed, stealing a glance at Jess briefly before trying to distract herself with tending to the plants.

Leslie followed the interaction closely, mouth forming into an 'o' as she began hopping happily. "Yaahhhooo. I think I have it. Beautiful, you spoke with the female pronoun when discussing matters involving the timorous beastie in our midst's?"

"Huh?" May Belle was naturally more confused than before. Jess sighed, wondering if Bill had mistakenly fed his daughter a dictionary when she was younger. It certainly fit with her confident demeanour towards Mrs Myers, whose main method of punishment was making people copy it out word for word during recess.

"She means you called the plant a she," Jess said, wondering why he even bothered any more.

"Oh!" May Belle's eyes lit up and she nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, yeah – I did do."

Leslie hummed in satisfaction, arms folded and eyes closed as if the job was already done. She motioned towards the barren plant pot. "The poor girl has a reason to be reluctant to reveal herself considering she doesn't have any clothes, of course, I figured this out long ago."

Leslie flicked her forefinger as if she were ticking off criteria from a list. "From what I know of typical girl behaviour, they seem to be very cautious in exposing themselves around the opposite sex... And you know who we currently have in our midst." Leslie tipped her head pointedly at Jess but May Belle just frowned at him with confusion.

Leslie patiently added. "Beautiful, what is Jess?"

The gears in May Belle's head clicked. Her brown eyes widened as if she were using them for the first time.

"Whow, Jess is a boy, so that's why they don't grow right – hey, does that mean they don't like dad, either?"

Leslie licked her teeth, squinting into the distance as she stretched her neck. "Hhhhhmmm. Maybe your dad only deals with boys, explains why he offered you the task of looking after the girls."

Okay, this had gone far enough. Jess was convinced that there was a white hole in Leslie's head because her logic seemed to come from another universe. Wasn't she supposed to be worrying about the student council?

"Puh, I can multi-task." Leslie answered, completely ignoring the hole she'd dug for herself, never mind her damn plant.

"I'm going to school," he said, stamping his feet grumpily. He took one surreptitious glance backwards to see if Leslie was following and was dismayed. "Leslie, you're not taking that bloody plant to school!"

And so, Jess found himself wallowing in self-pity as he collapsed into his chair ready for another lesson in diatribe courtesy of good old 'Monster mouth.

"Jess... why does Leslie have a plant on her desk?"

He shrugged off Mai's irritating question, resting his head on the worn desk and wishing it would suck him in. He barely registered Mai's continued prodding or the coarse ink ridden wood that rubbed into his cheek. Leslie had run off to get some package or whatever – like he cared - leaving the class in a state a flux, the moment before a reluctant burgeoning young soul dipped their toes into the water.

Ah, his desk. A trench to hide from the onslaught of Myers and Leslie. His eyes briefly stopped on that heart with two pairs of initials: B.R and S.K. He remembered agonizing over it many a time during fifth grade. He still hadn't figured out exactly who they belonged to, nor did he want to, really. Some things were better left a mystery.

He could almost feel Leslie dispute the point; her breath tickling his cheek as she leaned in, enjoying his discomfort as she admonished him with bemusement rather than anger. Lord, had it really been that long? At the thought something jiggled inside Jess, an uncomfortable sort of jolt, like when you were shaken by...

He could hear the violent vibrations of chairs moving as people took their seats. There was a lively buzz around the room. Mrs Myers was late now, and such a rare event was not to be taken for granted.

The thought occurred to him then, completely unwanted and at random, that despite being in the same laboriously painful class since almost before he could even remember anything, he knew next to nothing about them - what a relief. As if to prove a point, he stared absently at his nearest neighbours.

Marie Loo, Wonda Kay's old apprentice before she was infected with the Leslie virus, was well on her to filling the spot of snottiest in class. He watched with unease as her prissy face scouted the class, looking for any poor soul to pick on.

"Madison, don't lean on your desk."

Lord, why couldn't they leave people in peace? What harm was Madison doing anyway, she could do what she darn pleased. There were thirty one people in the class and not one of them looked even remotely interested. Momentarily forgetting his pledge to keep a low profile; he glared at Marie Loo hard - fortunately she sat back down before he was spotted.

Then there was - oh lord, Earl Watson. He had easily soaked up the vacuum left by Scott Hoager. If Hoager was an unseemly spot on the tip of your nose, Watson was a darn knife in the back.

For some inexplicable reason Earl felt the need to voice his thoughts to the world. Every thought. No matter how mundane.

He'd been announcer for the recess races they'd used to have, mostly on account of him being as slow as a damn turtle. Jess supposed his plight was on Leslie's head as well, considering she'd wrecked the whole aura of the thing by winning all the time. And just when he had had victory in his grasp...

"The old bat is loosing her touch, getting sloppy," Earl Watson declared pompously, convincing Jess that the loud-mouth actually thought people gave a damn about what came out of his mouth.

Still, like it or not, Earl did bring up a valid point: just where was Mrs Myers? He looked around slyly. Everyone else was sitting down – if a little slackly - they were all well versed in the rules of the 'Monster Mouth'. Being constantly alert was a functional prerequisite in surviving life with Myers – who could strike at any moment with little warranted provocation.

Jess suddenly felt a sinking sensation in his stomach. It would be incorrect to say everyone was here... and he knew that she revelled in making an entrance.

Leslie was like one of those songs he'd heard playing in the ghastly programmes Brenda and Ellie religiously followed. The annoying ones that were starved of even the smallest modicum of musical talent - yet bizarrely still catchy. Those darn songs that weasel their way into his head like uninvited guests and then proceed to stink up the inside of his cranium by playing themselves over. And over. And over. And over - and no amount of screaming, pounding, protesting or banging his head into his desk would get them out.

And like those songs, Leslie could pop up anywhere, regardless of occasion.

"Ka-kah! Are you all sitting comfortably?" A blur of blond hair sped into the classroom before standing proudly with hands on hips as if she were surveying her loyal subjects.

You should be sitting down too, Jess thought with chagrin. A few expressed their indifference, most simply ignored the rumbustious girl. Unperturbed by the less than welcome welcome, Leslie sauntered merrily to her seat, taking the phrase 'a spring in your step' to new - and even more irritating - heights.

Jess noticed her nursing a brown package, curiosity got the better of him. "Just what is that?"

Leslie smiled coyly, relishing in his interest. "It's part of the plan," she said, winking as if he had already been informed.

Jess frowned, correcting his posture slightly. "I thought you didn't do plans?"

"I don't," she said suggestively, staring at him intensely for just a second before turning back to her package, indicating that the conversation was over.

And so they all continued waiting, each growing more anxious whether through faster chewing, louder announcing - or in Jess' case - an increase in envisioning dark scenarios. In fact the only one who didn't seem the least bit unnerved was Leslie.

"Problem, Jess?" Leslie asked, noticing his comical expression.

Jess eyed up her benevolent stare, growing unsettled by the blue orbs that looked a little too innocent to be trusted.

"You haven't... killed her, have you?" He felt like a novice fisherman testing out new waters for sharks.

Leslie gave him a quizzical look. "Who?"

"Mrs Myers."

Leslie's response was non-committal. "You think I should?" she said, dead serious.

Jess gulped, face turning pale at the thought. "Lord, Leslie..."

Leslie erupted into fits of laughter, smacking her desk for applause. The sound rung around the room, breaking the uneasy atmosphere and turning the class into an awkward set of voyeurs as they didn't quite get what was so funny. Jess grew embarrassed at the unyielding stares, particular the ones that read 'shut her up, the noise might attract a teacher'. Since when was he her keeper?

"Lord, Leslie, be quiet," he whispered, but she was in no mood.

"Ah, so I'm your lord and master now, am I?" She placed an elbow on her desk, fingers toying with her face as her eyes twinkled. "You really shouldn't misaddress your queen."

He sighed, turning and keeping his head straight on the absent desk of Myers. "Too early in the morning... Open the package or something and leave me alone."

He did his best to remain rigid, but his stricken heart was still human, and he couldn't resist a peak once he heard the excited ruffling of packaging. A noise so synonymous with the yearning of children on Christmas day that your mind couldn't help but – eh?

"Leslie, what is that?" he hissed.

She was holding some sort of metal container in her hands, moving it around as if she were unsure what to do with it. Biting her lip anxiously as she studied it, Leslie looked like a sheepish kid who stole their parents credit card.

"This isn't what I ordered," she mumbled. Jess noticed how she rubbed her face with her hands as if she was trying to... wake up?

Leslie rose purposefully from her desk, not even bothering to push her seat under the desk. "Look... could everyone leave this here till I get back?"

"What is it?" said Earl instantly, never missing an opportunity to open his darn mouth. His arms were folded and he was swinging contemptuously on his chair, apparently unafraid of any potential encounter with Mrs Myers. _Apparently_, Jess thought with irritation – the smug git.

"Just don't touch it," Leslie said as she placed the package on Mrs Myers' desk. Why didn't she take it with her if it was so precious? It was like running a criminal organisation outside a police station.

Giving one last nod to the class as if they were her allies, she left, leaving them all in an uneasy truce. Said truce was short lived. The package stared tantalizingly at them, all alone...

"I'm taking a look," Earl said with an arrogance that made Jess want to throw him out of the window.

"It looks like perfume," Marie Loo whispered coyly with an undercurrent of greed as she followed swiftly behind. Oh, lord! On instinct more than anything he jumped from his seat, not even reacting as his chair smacked onto the floor with dismay.

Come on! They had a head start on him but he could do it. Scrambling in between desks - much to the protest of their inhabitants - he tensed, air whipping against his face, just like the old days when he'd run till his guts felt like they were about to spit out of his mouth, the rest of the world sleeping.

Come on! He had eyes only for the package, rivals merely dots in the corner of his eyes. He'd done this before, he'd do it again. His head pulsed as he readied his hands, feeling two more pairs directly behind him.

Come on. Just a...

And like some cheesy action movie a mysterious stranger entered the class and, as if in slow motion, lifted the package with insulting ease from their wanton grasps. Seemingly unaware of the fervour it was demanding, said stranger waved jovially to Jess. Unfortunately for Jess he knew this stranger all too well.

"Yo, Jesster. How's it – well, hello, gorgeous." Richard completely switched his attention mid-sentence, mesmerized by the 'charms' of Marie Loo.

"My head's up here you pervert," Marie said, turning away from his wandering eyes haughtily.

"Don't wor-ry, I'll get to that part soon e-nough." Richard said, licking his lips.

Jess sighed. This was the guy who'd graded every female in the school on a scale of 1 to 10. What he graded them on left nothing to the imagination and would leave any decent human being flushed at the vulgar indecency.

"Richard, last time I checked this wasn't your class. Why. Are. You. Here?" Jess said the last part with unrestrained vehemence, knowing all too well that Richard could rival Leslie's perpetual state of obliviousness. Lord, if that was a word...

Richard gave an exaggerated wince as he clutched his apparently broken heart. "Ouch, such a cold response. Do I need a response to visit my best-est bud and – hey, where's the babe?"

"Don't call her that, And that isn't a reason." Jess snapped.

"Hey, she doesn't seem to mind."

"Well, I do, and besides, she's Leslie. " Jess quickly shook his head to keep his mind on the topic at hand, suddenly remembering comically: the package. Unfortunately it seemed his rivals had also come to their senses at the same time.

"Hey, you don't mind if I have a little drink." Richard said for the sake of propriety as he did away with the torn packaging, licking his already dry lips; failing to notice the abrupt change in atmosphere.

With no time for pleasantries, Jess rushed for Richard, taking it all in one big jump.

"Hey, come on, Jess," Richard said, a little uneasy now. "I just want a little sip."

"Give it to me, idiot." Marie Loo demanded impatiently, arms open wide.

"With pleasure." Richard said, instantly handing it to he, thirst forgotten.

Before Marie Loo could even revel in her victory, Earl jumped her, snatching it from her grasp and rushing for the relative safety of the door while gloating. "I think I wanted this first."

"Guys stop this" Jess said urgently – wait, Mai came flying past him. How was she that quick? Before Earl could blink Mai had prized it from his own grasp. Crap! Jess cursed in mid-jump, he couldn't readjust in time. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for impact.

Jess connected sickeningly with Mai's elbow of all places, leaving him in limbo as he toppled to the unforgiving floor. His plight was quickly accompanied by the weight of Mai, Earl and, much to her displeasure, Marie Loo.

"Stop holding on to me." Marie Loo screamed, but her protests were overshadowed by Richard's cry of determination.

"I got it!"

Jess felt a heaving, breathless stab as someone kneed him in the stomach, air leaving him faster than a blow-up doll as a dozen limbs struggled for freedom. He didn't have the equilibrium or the room to adjust to see what happened. The dull thud and prompt curse afterwords was all the confirmation he needed.

Afraid of what would meet him, he pushed off a dangling leg, peering through the shapes and blurs that pervaded his vision to the welcome of the package, nestled comfortably on the floor – in pieces.

"Sorry, I thought I had it." Richard shrugged lamentable as he sheepishly smiled. Lord, the one guy everyone, whether athletically inclined or not, was loathed to be partnered with on sport's day.

A strange colourless liquid exited from the wreckage, prowling along the floor. Those nearest the mess shrieked in horror as they tried despairingly to get away. Such was the tight, compact nature of the room it was no easy task, with the narrow spaces between desks hardly accommodating freedom of access.

As the liquid reached Mai's shoes Jess wondered how it could get any worse. Marie Loo duly stomped on his face in her desperation to get upright.

"What happened – who did this?"

Leslie entered the room, followed by an exasperated Mrs Myers after what had been the most hastily conceived clean up in Lark Creek history. Leslie was, of course, aggrieved at the now cleared desk of Mrs Myers, who was already narrowing her eyes at the class on impulse, jaw set in suspicion.

Jess gulped, trepidation practically written into his expression with a felt-tip pin as he sunk back into his chair, massaging his bruised cheek. A few followed his lead, all looking like they were already in the principals' office awaiting punishment.

Leslie took a deep breath to calm herself. "Okay, I promise I won't get mad or ask for money, just tell me what happened."

"Les- Leslie." Jess cracked as he raised his voice, motioning to the bin.

She took one look at its contents and cursing severely, much to Jess' immense surprise. Out of all the reactions he had expected, a curse seemed too... normal?

Richard coughed awkwardly He stuck out like a sore thumb considering he didn't have a seat, reduced to swaying beside Mrs Myer's desk, covered his face with his palm for obscurity. "I think I'd better be going..."

Richard took the first haphazard steps to freedom before he was cruelly caught.

"Don't move." Leslie said, pointing with malevolence at Richard; who froze, right leg left in the air.

"What... I didn't do... anything... it was, it was that idiot, Earl Watson." Richard, a virtuous hero, was quite the stuttering picture of nerves as he twiddled his fingers guiltily.

Earl looked understandably livid, body boiling with rage as he starting hurling insulting left, right and centre. Jess would've found it all quite amusing if not for Leslie's brooding expression coupled with what appeared to be a very dire situation. The chit-chatter around the class grew more urgent as people questioned what was interrupting their daily learning.

Richard continued spluttering apologies until Leslie physically dragged him away from the safe haven of the door. With a tight grip on Richard's shirt, Leslie used her free hand to create a screeching sound on the blackboard.

Lord, Leslie, give some warning.

Jess covered his ears at the intruding sound which was like a cacophony of Miss Bessie and the roosters worst moments rolled into one. A constant thin screech that seemed to come straight from his ear buds deafened him, a horrible, gnawing, chilling like sound. Ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

He could feel sweat build up on his forehead but his hands were preoccupied with his ears, he felt like if he didn't hold them tightly they might just fall off forever, such was the... until mercifully Leslie relented.

"Right, now that I've got your attention, let me explain a few things." Leslie said, unabashed at the thirty pained expressions wincing at her. "First thing first – always a good way to start. Okay, I hereby cancel school for today."

Mrs Myers' lips thinned as she sought to contain herself. He had almost forgotten about her. She seemed to have been mulling over the situation as if she were a detective gathering incriminating evidence, rubbing her chin all knowingly as she spoke at last. "Leslie, what is the meaning of this?"

Leslie bowed her head in apology before continuing. "Right, explanations. I'm sorry to inform you but this class is now the site of an unmitigated disaster..."

At least try and look upset_,_ Jess thought with exasperation, ears still whimpering. Every sound was now a painful whine like a car skidding to a halt right beside his face. He remembered Leslie telling him about how ears popped on planes – he hadn't fully appreciated such a thing until now.

Unable to clearly hear Leslie's diatribe, he instead observed the distant, almost clouded expressions of his fellow students. The word 'bacteriological weapon' seeped through his pain-filled hearing, accompanied shortly by anguish filled gasps. What the heck was going on?

Mrs Myers couldn't help but interrupt Leslie, her face a terrifying mixture of shock and fear that seemed synonymous for anyone caught near Leslie Burke's own gravitational pull of horror and madness. "So let me... You're saying that this, this is a bacter-iologi-cal weapon developed... in another, another country?"

Mrs Myers' speech was slow, weary and sporadic – like the heart of an old lion clinging to the last shreds of its leadership. To see such a... look on her face, well, it was like looking at the Hollywood sign in Chinese. Jess felt a cold chill swamp the area, although Leslie looked as if she'd suddenly turned into a well-versed businesswomen, expression conspicuous by it's expressionlessness. Just what was her middle name anyway?

"Not just any weapon, an incredibly dangerous bacteria created with the latest in biotechnology courtesy of the big thinkers in Germany. It is insatiable in its desire to hunt and destroy, killing indiscriminately through the air." Leslie glanced with nonchalance at a piece of paper she'd picked out from the bin before shrugging. "At least that's what the instructions say. It als-"

"Leslie," Jess said as he watched Mrs Myers visible begin to convulse in fear. "This isn't helping."

Leslie took a step back in offence, holding her hands up innocently. "I was only reading what the manual says – it also states-"

The strained voice of Mrs Myers broke with the fragility of a thin slither of glass hanging by a thread. "It travels through the air, you say?"

"Yes, " Leslie said, nodding matter-of-factly.

"And it's right here, in this room?" Mrs Myers asked again with the same strained voice that was only _growing_ in fragility. Jess felt his stomach squirm, the unmissable nervous shifting of feet nearby.

"Yes," Leslie said, again nodding matter-of-factly as if it were all business as usual.

Mrs Myers took the type of long, deliberate and even treasured breath that one only took when they knew it was their last. "So, Leslie, what you're trying to say is that... my class... my class and I have been poison-ed?"

Leslie offered a weak laugh to lighten the mood – which Jess thought was woefully inadequate considering the room possessed less cheer than a graveyard - before nodding wearily and bracing herself, quite rightly expecting Mrs Myers to explode. Jess sighed, turning around to avoid the barrage of abuse that would undoubtedly follow.

A dull thud echoed around the otherwise deathly silent class. Lord, Myers had killed her. Edging his head fearfully over his shoulder he – wait, where was Myers? He followed Leslie's shocked face down to her feet, Myers lay flat on her back – she'd fainted!

Earl started the panicking in full swing, nearly toppling his desk over in his urgency. "What are we gonna do now, we're doomed. "

"I'm getting the hell out of here," Marie Loo said before making for the door. Jess was struck by a sudden inexplicable feeling that if he didn't leave this room right now he would surely die. This feeling appeared to be unanimous as the whole class rushed as one, elbows and shoulders swinging like barricades to ward off challengers.

They were all halted, however, by the slight frame of Mai standing in the doorway defiantly, her opinion made clear: no one was getting past.

* * *

Author's Confessions: Probably the weakest chapter in the story. It's a little too long and the writing gets very lazy by the end. Still I've edited it around a little and the final version is okay. The beginning and the ending both illustrate the conflict and humour within the story effectively, although the bits in between are a little hit and miss.

I was tempted to savagely cut the whole bloody plant pot scene, the joke wore a little thin on me, although I suppose reading it over so much has that effect. Gah, I sound like Jess.

Thanks for reading and feedback is always appreciated

Shamo9


	5. The Perfect World

Heads in the Clouds

Chapter Five

The Perfect World

_She had her own style her own rules_

Revised: 11/7/10 (originally chapter four)

* * *

Miss Todd perked up brightly, a pristine cookie cutter smile on her face with a full white sheath of teeth on display. The children were to get changed in their class before leaving their bags and running along to the gym hall for a little game.

She patted the mountain of paperwork that had been left neglected for so long; cheeks radiating at the prospect of settling herself down in the staff base. Just her and a nice, steaming hot cup of coffee. Two sugars, Miss Todd exhaled, ah, exactly the way she liked it.

"Okay, children, quickly now. A member of our very own student council, Susie, has kindly offered to escort you to the gym hall. I'll mark your tests and hand them back first thing tomorrow. Have fun." Miss Todd's eyebrows wriggled ever so slightly at the thought of the Art teacher helping her with the marking. Oh, yes... just hold that officious look under her nose for a bit longer.

Susie left the infatuated teacher to her blissful reverie, reclining her head towards the cute little faces admiring her shyly. Well, at least that's what Miss Todd thought.

In reality the 2nd graders were anything but admiring of Susie's 'talents'. Many still nursed bruises from their last gym class, teaching them painfully how 'dedicated' Susie could be.

Alexandra was only one of twenty-five young souls who reluctantly placed their bags under their desks. She gave a pained moan as her new pencil case - one that her mother had bought for her especially and not her brat of a sister - nestled inside the black fabric. Now out of her reach, now out of her protection.

Would she ever see it again? Alexandra sighed, pulling her head away with resignation, she loved her Harry the Happy Hippo pencil case, she just _loved_ it.

"Don't worry, Leslie said she'd come." May Belle said, face set in resolution as she too placed her bag under her own desk, regret conspicuously absent from her own brown eyes.

Alexandra smiled bravely at May Belle, she knew Leslie Burke as well, both from May Belle's wondrous stories and a few tantalising glimpses when she'd visited May Belle's home. And of course, how could she forget the free to pee campaign?

"Puh," Rachel, the most snotty, snot nosed 2nd year there ever was snorted derisively. May Belle's eyes narrowed. Did she mention Rachel was snotty?

"She's a big kid, they don't care about us, ginger," Rachel whispered, trying to sneak a packet of sweats into her pocket slyly under the desk, away from Susie's attentive gaze. Alexandra lowered her head self-consciously, quickly pulling on her woolly hat that was supposed to be kept for winter.

"Alexandra, not inside. Rachel, would you please put that back in your bag. Physical education is no place for that, you may eat at lunch like a good girl."

Rachel huffed, throwing them back rather grumpily in way of a silent rebellion. She looked at May Belle's brown, beady and most of all buoyant eyes, feeling something desperate twinge within her.

"Your big kid better come," she whispered at May Belle, poking the girl in the side. "I don't wanna lose my sweets again."

"Or get hurt," Alexandra said, arms curling into her stomach as if in preparation.

"Leslie'll come, you'll see." May Belle nodded vigorously as they set off for the gym. "She promised."

Never give up, never give in. Nothing crushes us. Yes, May Belle remembered. She would never forget.

* * *

"Get the hell out of the way," Earl's eyes were large and glazed over, mouth practically foaming with ferocity and unrestrained desperation.

"No," Mai said, voice deathly quietly, forcing everyone to keep silent to hear. Jess felt something in his stomach squirm as, lord, Marie Loo began to laugh with incredulity.

"Would do you mean, are you an idiot? Are you retarded? No? We're gonna die here!" Marie Loo's last remark eerily echoed around the room, like some strange, visceral feeling that made Jess shiver involuntary.

He watched as tears of panic began to infect the room; the enormity of the situation beginning to weigh them all down. Deaths. Bombs. Fighting. Weapons. Fainting. It was all so surreal, like something out of a blockbuster, but where was the hero to save the day? Lord, who would tell them it was okay?

Jess hunched around, feeling like the walls were closing in. He had this feeling smashing around his head like a bull in a china shop, this feeling that he had to do something, not later, but now, right now, before his next breath. But what? The room's air was thick with sweat and an ethereal fear that groped them- there! He could feel it. Jess folded his arms, wishing fervently for his body to develop a shell to nestle into.

He felt tired and lethargic, a tingling sensation caressing his spin when he thought of what he might be breathing in. The haunting realisation that it was already too late, that whatever was happening was already well under way. Jess shielded his stomach desperately, feeling suddenly that it might explode.

"Look," some idiot said, pointing to Leslie's plant pot, still sitting on her desk, forgotten. Jess felt the breath he knew he was holding desert him; replaced savagely by a horrible acrid stench of burning. The solitary little twig in the pot looked like it was on fire, only there was no flame. It wilted and wailed as if to escape something, its form irrevocably folding down to the soil... its final resting place. Lord, was that their insides right now? Was that what was happening?

"I think I'm gonna… throw up," Richard said as he gasped for air. The poor boy dived for the bin, but it was too far. Madison screamed as Richard fell to his knees, spewing repugnant vomit everywhere. Jess rushed for the bin, years of living on a farm making such an act instinctive, Marie Loo could only look away with revulsion and a festering fear.

"Here..." Jess said as he pushed the bin towards Richard with two fingers, holding his nose tightly with his left hand as he tried not to make a face. Lord, the boy kept on going and going, vomit mixed with tears.

Jess wanted to do more, he really did, but he didn't want to die... and if Richard was like this then maybe, maybe it was only him, and if Jess held his nose. Yes, Jess nodded, eyes crazed as his mind grew clearer. He was_ still_ alive, of that he was sure. If he jus-

"Has anyone got a tissue?" Madison pleaded, shaking at the sight before her. Thirty pairs of distracted eyes turned away, the room laced with the potent stench of sickness and the dreaded next step that no one dared to utter, because doing so made it real, it made... everything real.

Marie Loo clenched her fists, growling at Mai like a wild animal. "See, this is why we have to leave, idiot. We're gonna die. If I die because of you then I'm going to bloody kill you!"

There was a few murmurs of agreement as Mai remained stoic and unrepentant, mirroring a sleek barricade.

The sickly smell emitting from Richard seemed to push the panic to new heights, grave expressions grew graver still on everyone's faces, well, almost everyone.

Leslie lifted her hand, apparently insouciant. She was the only who hadn't rushed to the door with frenzied panic, merely loitering on the table as she swung her legs with childish amusement.

Every one of Leslie's steps was performed with such gusto and vigour that there was little wonder that the world would one day want it back. Jess struggled for something happy as he remembered how Wonda had wanted Leslie to take one of those drug tests athletes get. He shook his head, amazed. Lord, he was smiling now? In this sort of situation where laughter should've been the furthest thing from his mind.

Madison looked at Leslie, who paused as if she'd run over something. "Oh right, sorry, no tissues, I usually just use Jess."

Leslie clapped her hands together before pulling her hair back in a very business-like fashion, apparently not phased at all. "Actually, I was meaning, well, Mai is correct, this thing-"

"Shut up, Leslie! This is your fault anyway," Marie Loo said, eyeing her rival up with disgust as she swung her head snobbishly, apparently all it took was the insolence of Leslie for the class to set their anger free.

"Yeah." Several members of the class chorused in agreement, redirecting their ire from Mai temporarily. Jess watched the scene unfold as a reluctant voyeur, feeling his mouth dry up. Lord, do something, Aarons.

Leslie appeared unhurt at the class' dissent. She suavely nodded her thanks to Marie Loo before neatly stepping over Myers' motionless figure and – as if to add insult to injury – stood on the incapacitated teacher's desk proudly.

"Right, okay, the package came with these helpful instructions." Leslie waved a note in front of her face - say this sort of thing earlier.

"The instructions state that it takes a couple of hours at most for the symptoms to manifest, they include." Leslie brought the paper closer to her face, reading out tonelessly, "Nausea, muscle weakness, fits or headaches and most prominently shaking of the left arm."

Madison squeaked in surprise. "Bu – but." She looked at her arm as if it was some sort of alien life form. "I'm... shaking?"

Those closest to Madison took a few surreptitious steps away, dusting themselves down thoroughly. Earl steadied himself on one of his goon friends, mouth dry. "Nausea..." he muttered, staring at Richard, still kneeling on the floor, surrounded by vomit. The shock in his eyes was potent.

"I can't stop it!" someone screamed, whacking one arm with the other. Lord, Jess looked away, wondering if Richard was finished with the bucket. He crouched beside the boy, who had started cleaning himself up with his jacket – no one had bothered wasting something on someone already so far gone.

Leslie coughed, raising her eyebrows like she was staring at a fascinating science project. "Okay, I guess we all understand the symptoms. Now, moving forward, the weapon – I'll call it that for practicality - travels through the air. If we lock all the doors and windows hopefully we can contain the virus. Right, Jess, Madison, help me out with that big one in the corner"

Madison nodded after a seconds hesitation, a deep shuddering breath the remedy for her frayed nerves. Jess noticed that her left hand was still shaking. Just as the quiet girl began making her way, Marie Loo grabbed her shoulder, forcefully pulling her back and causing the frail to cry out in fright.

"Don't be an idiot," Marie Loo said, disregarding Madison as she glared at Leslie, resenting the fact she had to look upwards.

"And then what happens to us, Einstein?" Marie Loo said, every movement of her tongue filled with derision.

Leslie shrugged. "Well, we're already infected so..."

"So?" Marie Loo turned to the rest of the class. "You expect us to die here?"

Jess could feel the righteous anger bubbling over in many of his classmates after what they'd endured, unfortunately Leslie remained blissfully ignorant.

"Look, this is no one's fault." Leslie waved her hands in a placating gesture, Jess thought it looked more like a matador goading a bull. "We all earned this fate together and we must face it together. Please forget your petty-"

"Earned this fate together?" someone repeated.

"Petty," spat another.

Earl nodded, giving Leslie a witheringly look as he pointed in her direction. "You were the one who did this, you brought that thing in here, it's _your_ fault."

"I say we kill her. Who's with us?" Carl, Earl Watson's shadow, dutifully supplied.

Jess took a cautious step backwards, feeling sweat drip down his forehead as his mind scrambled for a solution. Five minutes and they were already taking openly about murder. He couldn't stop shaking his head with disbelief at it all, mind feeling like a vacuum when he needed it the most. Come on... he had do something!

"Now everyone, just stop and think." Leslie started before Jess had even opened his mouth. "Do you really want your last moments on this planet wasted by committing such a heinous act. It's bad enough that you're all going to die so young without experiencing any of the real joys in life."

Leslie continued relentless, like a car crash your eyes were glued to. "You'll never have a child that passes on your legacy, all those years you wasted studying have turned out to be pointless – do you really want to tarnish your names by wasting your life to the bitter end? This single act of humility, of compassion to our fellow students, will result in our names being talked about with reverence in Lark Creek for eternity. They might even build a statue. You understand, don't you everyone?" Leslie opened her arms and smiled benevolently.

Like an almighty God welcoming her subjects back to paradise, Leslie seemed convinced she was doing them a great service, eyes glistening with tender tears. Jess rubbed his forehead with exasperation. Was this her idea of a rallying speech? Jess was actually begrudgingly impressed with Leslie's uncanny ability to close her eyes every time she opened her mouth.

"Come to think of it," Earl began, rubbing his hairy chin with rigid, unstable strokes of a now ragged nail. "Killing her would sure as hell make me happy, dying or not."

A murmur of general agreement rung throughout the room. Leslie quickly waved her arms madly to regain control.

"Come on guys, I know you're not that stupid – I told you-"

Marie Loo nodded dryly. "Yeah, let's kill her..."

Jess felt something tingle in his feet. Okay, this was the moment. "Wait, wait – er." Jess stumbled, mind suddenly blank, what could he possibly say? Lord, how did Leslie make this look so easy? He felt himself crumble in front of the many agitated glares he was receiving. They all practically screamed, 'you wanna die to, kid'?

He stuttered and dallied, feeling his face grow unbearably hot as he silently begged for someone to save him.

"Jess, you mean we should be focusing on trying to survive, right?" Finally Mai showed mercy, offering him an olive branch with a determined look on her face. Lord, he could kiss her right now. He mouthed a sincere thank you as he regained a semblance of composure.

"I'd rather we try that than just beating up a defenceless-"

"A-hem, I am not defenceless." Leslie interrupted, poking Jess in the chest as her face contorted in indignation. She'd jumped down from the desk and walked right through the angry horde just to spitefully poke him. Jess' jaw dropped in astonishment at the idiocy – could she not see he was trying to save her skin?

"Leslie, shut up," he whispered coldly, pushing her away as the class once again grew restless.

Lord, now they were glaring at him again. Jess felt his confidence plummet. "So what do you say? I'd rather try and live than kill and die, what about you?" Jess' lame smile quickly deteriorated into a grimace. Fantastic, Aarons, even when the situation looked impossibly desperate, he'd still engineered a way to make him the second to die.

The class as a unit contemplated their prospects like only those staring death in the face could. An uneasy silence enveloping the room as faces stared into the abyss, minds working furiously to dispense the cobwebs. Lord, at least he'd managed to calm them down.

"This is all very well and good," Earl Watson started pompously, speech grandiose. "But Leslie made it quite clear that we're as good as dead anyhow."

Jess looked pointedly at Leslie, trying to convey his desire as he covered for her. "I'm sure you were being melodramatic, right?"

_Come on, Leslie._

She stared at him oddly for a few moments as he tried to physically implant his thoughts into her – not that he needed to anyway, no one was that clueless. Their gazes connected at that very moment, blue on brown. Jess sighed with relief as he smiled warmly at her, feeling as if they were finally on level footing.

Leslie winked back before stating in a carefree manner. "Nope, instructions were pretty adamant that they hadn't developed an effective way of combating it. How silly of them. We're dying as we speak – although technically that's a moot point considering every day pushes us inexorably closer towards our final resting place. This is merely speeding things up - ka-kah."

Leslie snorted at her exclusive humour, her classmates faces darkening with a violent lust for vengeance. Jess felt his own hands ball into fists as he too narrowed his gaze, no longer anxious.

"Les...lie," he said in-between deep shuddering breaths, feeling his heart smash against his chest.

Leslie giggled into her palm. "Looks like some of us are dying faster than others, you alright there, Jess? Hah, I kill myself sometimes – ka-kah, see what I did there?"

Jess' eyes bizarrely caught the gaze of Earl Watson, a boy that had been irritating him without reprieve for years. Suddenly... it all seemed insignificant, they weren't so different. Like brothers they nodded in unison, united by a single goal: killing that girl.

The red mist seeped around the room as their feet slithered towards their prey: Leslie Burke. Fuelled with anger, frustration and despair, Earl lead the way, malevolence even in his very gait. Leslie laughed uncertainly as she ran out of space in the small classroom, cornered and continuing to dig her own grave to the bitter end.

A sudden clattering sound broke the enchantment of rage. Jess turned warily as the banging faded into sniffs from a... Mai? Still standing by the door she looked so isolated and alone – Jess' heart went out to her as she slid to the floor, reduced to a sobbing heap. He was stunned by the display of raw emotion as she began spilling out her pain like blood.

"This isn't... It's not supposed to be like this... we were supposed to... I can't..."

This wasn't anger or hatred, no that was easy. This, _this_, was pain... and anguish. A concoction for more deadly.

After a moment's pause Mai screamed, it was the most awful scream Jess had ever heard. Visceral, guttural, it wasn't a scream of pain, or sorrow – at least they retained some modicum of hope, a promise that the pain would ease, that the sorrow would be overcome and that this release, this display of emotion was the very beginnings of recovery, the type of things you saw in movies all the time.

Jess shivered, fighting a growing nauseous as he shook his head, trying to deny he was even hearing it. This scream. This scream, it was ugly, it was... uncomfortable, he wanted to get away, he had to get away.

"I never – I'll never get to say goodbye..." The scream finally faded, Mai's head began lulling from side to side, as if it was hanging precariously. They had all stopped. Marie Loo, Earl Watson, Madison, everyone stood, solemn with remorse, as if they were standing at the graveside of a fallen friend. Even Leslie gave an aggravated lift of an eyebrow, pupils moving from left to right.

They all avoided each other's gazes, as if they were all guilty conspirators. _You're right, Mai_, Jess thought

This _wasn't_ right. He looked at his classmates, his friends? No, only strangers, acquaintances at best. People he'd always oughtta have known, but never had the time or motivation. Always something, something in the way... they'd all kind of missed each other, like walking past someone in the street.

Do something, he thought despairingly. Please. Someone surely had to help, surely? Wasn't that what was supposed to happen, they were _all_ supposed to help, right? So why were they all standing there? Why? Lord, Jess pushed a hand through his hair, feeling like nothing as questions that felt more like personal accusations bombarded him. Mai had helped him, hadn't she?

And then it happened. He moved. So slowly he didn't even feel it. He did it. No one else. His decision. Taking action.

His steps were lethargic, sloppy, as if he were undertaking a daunting pilgrimage that he wasn't ready for. Jess gulped, throat tightening as his breathing grew sporadic. Come on! He moved, faster now. Crossing the classroom.

"Mai," he whispered, feeling weak and strong at the same time. He knelt down beside her. There was no fanfare, no slow motion, no special effects, no music or misplaced, awkward feelings.

He held her. Jess felt her sob into his shirt, felt her gripping onto it for dear life.

He looked back, staring at his classmates, across the insidious divide. He looked at them, no, really looked, not stared with half-interest. Looked past the effects, the clothes, the make up, the faux expressions.

Seeing them like that, as they really were. Not bullies, snotty jerks, teachers' pets, loud mouths, smart, dumb and everything else. No, they were kids like him, scared to their wits end. Like him.

Jess felt a trickle of shame drape over him like a blanket. He was as much to blame as anyone, he'd never done anything, ever. He was just some dumb kid. A dumb kid who couldn't even afford a decent pair of sneakers.

He'd even thought of abandoning Richard back there, out of fear for himself and only himself. Bad enough that he was a dumb poor kid. Lord, he'd never imagined he was a coward as well. Jess shook his head so hard he felt like his ears might fall off. No more. Lord, he wouldn't do it, not any more.

"Please..."

And then finally, finally they moved. Finally. Jess strained his eyes to watch every twitch of every muscle, feeling like it was all a minor triumph in a massive battle. He was stunned when Marie Loo reached them before he had even blinked, were they really that close? Had they always been that close?

"Here take this." She offered her phone to Mai, whose sobbing was now finally weakening. Mai lifted herself from Jess' chest. Eyes vulnerable as she stared at Marie with her tear stained face.

"Here," Marie Loo urged, placing the phone in Mai's hands and saying nothing more.

Mai looked down at her hands, and then back at Marie Loo, looking dazed and confused. Jess watched as the surprise swooshed through her like a steam train, she tried to thank Marie Loo, but the girl just shook her head and told Mai to get on with it.

The gesture wasn't lost on Jess. Marie Loo could have easily and quite rightly kept her phone to herself, used it only for her. He also noted that only a few moments ago they'd been more interested in tearing each other apart.

Mai detached herself from Jess and rigidly made her way to an unoccupied corner of the room, face set in readiness. It might have all looked incredible sappy and cheap to a passive bystander but, for probably the first time in his life, Jess Aarons did not even remotely care what 'some people' thought.

Pity, he sighed, that it took his death for him to realise that.

"Say... Marie Loo?" Earl started, swallowing hard as he relinquished his pride. "Do you mind if I use it next? It's just... I was supposed to visit my dad this weekend..."

Marie Loo nodded slowly in understanding. "Parents split up?"

Earl was suddenly fascinated with something on his hands."... Yeah."

"Sucks doesn't it..." Marie said, eyes far away.

Earl gave a non-committal shrug, snorting unevenly at himself. "You know... it's funny, I mean this might sound weird but, I dunno, I was kinda looking forward to it."

"My sister's wedding's this month," one boy said impulsively. "I was gonna be an usher."

"Gah." Carl stuck his tongue out, stepping out of Earl's shadow for once. "I hate weddings. Too much sitting about, and then... uh, the dancing."

"Tell me about," Earl said, face darkening.

Marie Loo held her head in her hands in mock astonishment. "Earl Watson, dancing? As if..."

"Hey," Earl said defensively. "I'm not that bad."

Marie Loo simple continued shaking her head until Earl began playfully chasing her, demanding she attest to his skill or he would clear the desks and show her right now.

Similar snippets filtered around the room as people talked about... anything. It served no constructive purpose. They were dying and yet...

Slowly but surely, and without fuss, a circle was formed. Whether it was deliberately done for convenience, or purely out of a subconscious need to be with someone, Jess didn't care. Whatever it was, it _felt_ right – well, except for Earl Watson's 'dancing', which looked like a strangled giraffe thrashing in pain.

"Hey, it's gonna be the next big fad – you watch, kids."

Jess smiled benignly as the phone was passed around the room, each getting their own individual turn to cherish. There was other phones of course, but for some reason they all wanted to share the same one.

Something was different; he wasn't sure what it was, but there definitely was something. They didn't look any different, well actually they did, Jess decided. They looked... almost... he couldn't find a sufficient word so he shrugged, happy to let the scene unfold.

Mai had shyly made her way back to Jess after her phone call. It was awkward and clumsy, and Jess felt his cheeks burn as she apologised profusely for breaking down like that. Jess nodded mechanically, not trusting himself to say anything more than a few words. There was a strange, almost triumphant look on her face as she spoke. Eventually she wondered off to join the light hubbub of merry conversation, leaving Jess no other distractions. He wasn't the only one sitting on their own.

He wandered over to her causally, hands in pockets. Yet it was anything but causal for him.

"Hey, Les, you okay?"

Leslie didn't lift her head from the desk of Mrs Myers, simply sliding along slightly to distance herself from him.

"Les," he started again calmly. "Are-"

"Okay? Of course I'm okay," Leslie interrupted, although she refused to lift her head so it was slightly muffled to the untrained ear.

Leslie shifted again, face sticking to the desk. "Why wouldn't I be? I was right. And stop butchering my name, please. Les does not equate to Leslie Burke, only a chronic case of laziness. You should always address your queen with dignity."

Normally he would have questioned what she meant by 'right', but strangely, all he could do was chuckle despite himself. "Whatever you say, Leslie Burke."

Leslie tensed up slightly in surprise as Jess sat beside her. She lifted her head ever so slightly, enough so he couldn't surprise her with anything. Jess noticed her eyebrows curl the way they always did when she was mulling something over. "You feeling okay, Jess?"

He was dying at this very moment, some poisonous substance was most likely relentlessly attacking his body and he would never see his family again and yet... he was, somehow...

"I'm okay, Leslie." Lord, he was probably mad, well, at least Leslie had company now. He sighed with contentment, feeling a wave of understanding come over him.

"O-kay." Leslie crossed her legs robotically in the silence that had fallen between them. Jess cleared his throat. Aware that he was trying to say something serious, Leslie searched for something to distract them with.

Jess watched with bemusement as her unguarded eyes worked furiously, tongue licking her lips. Shoelaces? Hair? Beat boxing? Kangaroos? The Anthropic Principle? The Blue Bird of Happiness? Lord, Jess wasn't sure what to be disturbed about more. The fact that Leslie's thought process was so warped, or the fact that he had a decent understanding of it all.

"Leslie," he paused. Lord, he hoped he got this right. He _needed _to get this right. "There's something I want so say. "

Jess watched as her eyes shined like the brightest constellations of stars imaginable, joined shortly after by the trademark devilishly grin that promised trouble. It was all classic Leslie as her mouth opened.

"Ah, right, good – lovely. We should all desire something, good for our blood pressure. You know what I want? A Koto. They most be fantastic to play, I mean 21 strings – ka-kah! That guy, what's his face – ah, Yatsuhashi Kengyo – fantastic guy, a blind musician, Stevie Wonder eat your heart out, who completely revolutionised the Koto – triumphing over adversity, doing what couldn't be done – brilliant Hah!"

"Leslie, I-" Jess started quietly but Leslie didn't want to hear it. There was something in her eyes that was almost desperate, practically willing him to shut up and not say what he was about to say. Like someone's face when they stare at the inevitable.

"Ever heard of 'The Tales of Genji'? Well this guy, Genji by the way, hears this mysterious women playing the Koto – and I mean mysterious, completely and utterly, didn't know a thing about her and yet he fell completely –"

"I'm glad I met you, Leslie," he admitted to himself, and then to her.

Leslie's mouth closed firmly as her words were silenced. She suddenly seemed insanely curious about how many tiles were on the roof. Counting unnecessarily loud.

"Thanks for helping me." Jess placed a hand on her shoulder, gripping firmly. Leslie stared at it numbly from the corner of her eye, expression now completely unreadable, even to him. "And, no matter what happens, I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"I'm fini... no, leaving..." Leslie said almost immediately after his own voice had died, removing his hand as if it was dead to her.

Jess noticed that her vibrant blue eyes that so often resembled a constellation of stars were now reduced to a sombre, contemplative state. "Bill's got a book signing in Europe, they're – we're leaving in a couple of days... once Judy finishes her first draft, any time now. We'll be gone a long time, probably even move."

Leslie said this in an almost incoherent blur before mumbling, almost lustfully. "Same old life, moving on, new adventures."

"Oh, right..." Jess said, at a loss for words. Out of all the replies he'd been expecting, how was he possibly supposed to respond to that? Was Leslie in denial? Why was she saying this when they were going to... Should he press her, or just...

"Sorry," he said finally, feeling that he had to at least say something now he was here. Lord, he'd imagined staring at his death would make everything else clear. He'd never felt more confused in his life.

Leslie laughed humorously. "I... never could lie to you... not when you talk like that..."

Jess did make a valiant attempt at some small talk, but Leslie was largely unresponsive. She eventually began complaining of a headache, which brought up more bad memories than he cared to remember. He nodded at her, eyes filled with worry, before returning to the group, feeling more lost and confused than when he'd left.

Several hours passed as the phone continued to be passed around like a trophy, an object that transcended normal boundaries, taking on a higher purpose. A symbol of hope and love. And all for a measly forty dollars, lord, now that was an eye opener.

A few even banded together to clean up Richard's vomit, utilising a particular potent perfume courtesy of a rather disgruntled Marie Loo. Still, the room being draped in the aroma of lime was infinitely more appealing to all.

Time seemed to drag but yet it was not painful, awkward or unpleasant. They were okay. All of them. Together. They talked, just talked, laughed and cried together more than they had ever done in their entire lives up to this point. The shadow of symptoms endured, but now they were no longer terrified. Nothing seemed that bad, as long as you weren't alone.

They shared everything because they had nothing left. Fears, ambitions and secrets moved from exclusive to inclusive. The classroom which had once seemed old, barren and lifeless was now the scene of togetherness, happiness – at its end.

Jess wasn't sure if he too was in denial, if what he was seeing was some idealised, perfect world that he'd created to keep his sanity. Maybe it was a hallucination caused by the bacteria? Still, he didn't want say it out loud. He woudn't spoil _this_ moment. If it wasn't reality, then he didn't want reality at all.

"So anyone been to Spain?" a jovial Earl said to the now consummate circle of friends. They were all huddled together, having said their goodbyes they were now saying hellos, hellos to people that they wouldn't of looked at twice otherwise.

"Aye, I've been," a bullish boy with a crocked nose said while grinning. "My mum kept on bugging me to put on the damn sun cream, like hell I was gonna let someone do that for me. So you know what I did, I sneaked into the bathroom, put it on my self and..." The boy paused, teasing his waiting audience

"What?" said Earl, enjoying the participation. In life they had sat beside each other for four years, sharing nothing but cold shoulders. Now they shared their first laugh.

"Well," the boy started, smiling sheepishly. "Obviously you can't rub your back completely yourself."

Carl chortled conspiratorially, laughing in unison with Earl. "Let me guess, you got fried?"

"Yep, look-" The boy lifted his top and turned around, revealing two very visible hand prints on the tip of his back. "Never could reach that spot," he said, smiling ruefully as the others applauded.

One spoke up. "I can reach that spot."

"Like hell you can," the bullish boy said dismissively, waving him away.

"Watch," the boy said, face brightening at the prospect of the challenge. His shoulder sockets popped as he twisted his arms into the impossible position.

Several of the girls squealed, covering their faces. "Oh, that's gross."

The boy that had been burned begrudgingly clapped. "Whoah, that's pretty damn cool. I never would've imagined, damn."

Jess along with several others echoed his sentiments, although Richard noticeably sighed with disinterest; tapping on the floor with his hands.

"What's the matter with you, mate?" Earl asked, eyebrows raised at Richard's glum expression.

The boy beside Richard nudged him in the ribs. "Anything you wanna say?"

Richard lifted his head gingerly, looking at the group with a pained expression of longing. "I forgot to hide my magazines."

The group burst into incredulous laughter and Richard blushed furiously, quickly trying to argue his precarious position. "Look guys, I don't want my mum to remember me as a pervert, these are last impressions we're talking about here!"

Jess snorted. It was good to know that whether it be life or death, some people never changed. He was about to mock Richard further when a sudden tapping on the long forgotten door made everyone freeze in their tracks. Lord, someone from outside.

Those in the circle stared at each other, each hoping that the other had some bright idea. Jess gasped as he heard the familiar creak of the worn out door handle turning, willing with every fibre of his being for the person to leave.

"What is this, why is the door jammed? Mrs Myers?" came the cry from outside. Wait, that sounded like-

"Principle Turner, stop!" Earl yelled, but to no avail.

* * *

Author's Confessions: I suppose one of the challengers of this story, which reared its ugly head in the last chapter, is that it requires a pretty big group of people interacting with each other to encapsulate the whole scope of the school. At the moment it seems like several stories are running side by side. It can be exhausting having to create so many unique characters and actually maintain that character through their actions without getting lazy or running out of ideas.

Dialogue between so many people can be a bit of a mess if it runs away, but it was something I couldn't avoid either because its a major theme in this story. The fact that Leslie and Jess, well, that escaping the real world forever isn't healthy. That there comes a time when its good to grit your teeth and join reality, make new friends and have crazy experiences. It's the only way to grow, really.

Finally, the plant pot, Mai and Leslie's odd behaviour aren't thrown in at random.

Thanks for reading and feedback is always appreciated

Shamo9


	6. Just like Family

Head in the Clouds

Chapter Six

Just like Family

_She played along like it was usual_

Revised: 11/7/10 (originally chapter five) This story has been revised a little so old readers might want to go back to the first chapter which, along with chapter seven, is new. Considering its been so long since an update you'll probably need to read the rest to jog the memory. I've updated and hopefully improved them all so hopefully you'll enjoy the whole story even more. A couple of scenes have been added or taken away.

* * *

"Okay, everyone," Susie said in a tone so sweet it could - and should - have been a narcotic. "Right, we should be getting quite the crowd today, the whole school most likely. Do you know what that means?"

No one had the guts to speak. Alexandra was sure she felt a cold chill coming from the big kid's general direction.

"No?" Susie said, again in that sweat cutesy tone that gave her the disposition of a predatory viper, waiting patiently for her prey with milk and cookies. "Preparation. Preparation. Preparation."

Only silence greeted her zealous 'enthusiasm'.

"We've got a lot of work to do." There was a conspicuous lack of disappointment in Susie's manner as she spoke, "Now, we've got a couple of hours to cover the basics, let's start with the national anthem."

Confusion infected them like the plague. National anthem? What did that have to do with anything? Alexandra tried to whisper her query to May Belle, but the girl seemed transfixed on the big kid, Susie. How could she even bare to look at her?

"Well, come on then." Susie clapped condescendingly. "We need order in life and thus order in the tournament, the formalities must always be met. Now start singing!"

The big kid's final words startled Alexandra, such was the sudden and abrupt ferocity. The undercurrent threat promising severe violence to anyone that disobeyed was lost on none of the second graders.

No, Alexandra flapped her head like a dying fish. It wasn't just a threat, it was a guarantee.

"I told you to sing." Susie didn't have to wait for long, _that_ grimacing smile was enough to make a dead man spring into action like a fresh daisy.

The children clumsily stumbled over their words as they tried despairingly to sing in unison. It was destined for failure, however, as the youngsters couldn't have felt more alone even if they were blasted off into space.

"Again, with feeling." The cantankerous student council member demanded, branding her hands like a whip as she flexed them towards the vulnerable children.

The first two verses went relatively smoothly, but as the anthem continued, and there was no signal to stop, everything began to fall apart. Little faces turned surreptitiously towards each other, pleading for some help.

What were the words again? How did it go? Alexandra could practically read it off their desperate puckered lips. She herself had never sung past the second, and even then she only ever did it once or twice a year. Alexandra tried her best to mime, but she couldn't control her eyes from widening in terror whenever one of the massive pairs of legs even twitched in her direction.

Susie remained impassive, arms folded behind her as she surveyed the performance without any indicator of what she was scheming. If one of the second graders were to steal a look at her face at that moment, they would be greeted with two cold black dots instead of eyes.

When even the most valiant students began to improvise, she halted proceedings.

"Okay, now the fifth verse. This will illustrate your dedicati- "

"F- fifth verse!" Alexandra squeaked involuntary. There was a fifth verse?

Susie signalled over a boy with a large pair of glasses wordlessly. He nodded, dully reciting what he'd read perfectly, down to the last dour nuance: "The following stanza was written by George Spowers around 1824 in an attempt to redress the balance of the anti-British sentiment in Key's third verse. However, it was also considered to drag the National Anthem into unnecessary politics, and is rarely sung." The boy mechanically bowed, finishing his diatribe, black hair as plain as a bin bag.

The boy with glasses rather than eyes pushed the aforementioned pair back to the tip of his nose, stepping back and fading out of view eerily.

"Well, who was it that so rudely interrupted me..." The dark eyes of Susie trailed along the line of second graders. Alexandra's chest tightened painfully as the black orbs of the abyss stopped on her, feeling like they might swallow her up if she stared back. "Ah right, you. Okay, ginger... if you're so desperate to talk, why not sing?"

"I... don't know... th-the-" Alexandra felt like dissolving into a heap of mush at that very second, her mouth betraying her. Why did it have to be her? She frantically darted her head left and right, as if she was a criminal who could incriminate someone else. Mummy, May Belle, Leslie, anyone.

"Are you mentally retarded, cease with the stuttering and speak properly, do you think this'll impress Mr Turner?" Alexandra's eyes were stuck on Susie's midriff like a humbled pet. The older, foreboding girl had her hands on her hips in an ostentatious manner as if she were trying to impress someone.

"I... I... don't." Alexandra's tongue wasn't working as her head remained bowed.

"What, you don't what? Come on, out with it, and don't even think about crying, pathetic baby!" Susie's arms were pointing at Alexandria tersely, like an evil magician threatening to turn her into a frog.

Alexandra finally managed to whisper tremulously that she didn't know the words. Staring at the floor and imagining with an ardent desire a world where kids could live in peace. Why does she hate me so much, she thought, why _me_?

Susie's eyes narrowed. "You call yourself an American? I asked you a question and you will answer this instant, do you consider yourself an American?"

She was cowering now, reduced to closing her eyes and imaging she was back at home, safe. No one could hurt her there. Alexandra repeated the mantra in her head, eyes shut so tight it hurt.

"A disgrace," Susie started. "A farce – "

"Please, sorry, I'm sorry..." Alexandra couldn't hold it in any longer, she felt the treacherous tears burn her cheeks as they slithered down, leering at her, mocking her. No, she was supposed to back home. She didn't want to be thrown out. What would her mummy say?

"Miss, erm, maybe you should stop now," a brave boy offered hesitantly as he wiped his brow uncomfortably, shifting on his toes.

Susie's rage reached epileptic proportions, the notion of someone actually expressing disobedience both an object of anger and fear.

The boy meekly shook his head, biting his tongue.

"Well, be quiet. Unless you want to show this idiot how it's done?" Susie's face seemed to calm somewhat, seemingly relieved to have fixed the 'leak'.

"I know you think we're being harsh, cruel – well, then you're absolutely correct. I'm not your friend, a friend is someone you waste away with, that encourages and supports your bad habits, just like family. I, we, are so much _more_. And so could you, everyone of you, if you follow my instructions, work hard and earn tangible reward."

Susie swept across the gym, picking up the bag with the dodgeballs and squeezing one experimentally.

"Good, okay? How about we start from the beginning, everyone this time, we want to impress Mr Turner and the education committee, don't we?" It seemed the preliminary tortures were only going to continue, Susie had briefly mentioned something about a daft group of adults coming, and now their fears had been solidified.

Without warning Susie viciously threw the dodgeball she'd been holding straight into the herd of second graders. It slapped an unsuspecting boy in the chest, winding him as he fell to the floor, clutching onto anything as he gasped for the elusive breaths that had been stolen from him. It was the one boy who had dared stand up to the council, Alexandra felt light headed as she desperately tried to hold back the tears, everyone fleeing the scene like frightened ants.

"Did I tell you to stop singing, keep going. This is dodgeball. You need to be alert at all times, you don't want to let down your family, do you?"

After the second verse the anthem began to fall apart again as young tongues tangled with the complicated rhyme scheme. Susie tensed, eyes focused as she prepared to edify the young souls, to make them better than they ever could have been without the council, without order and structure. But first she had to stamp out this frivolous nature that had overtaken them like a disease, and she knew the name: Leslie Burke.

"You, again. What's your name, ginger?" Susie started, now enjoying the hunting game. First they would correct these insolent brats, and then they'd be ready to tackle the source. "I want to know the name of the kid I teach a lesson, don't worry, you'll learn from this, learn a great deal."

"Leave her alone," May Belle said as she stepped out in front of Alexandra.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember talking to you... now get out of my way."

"No, you don't scare me at all. Leslie'll beat you, she's the best. You can't beat Terabithia!" Ah, and there it was, that damn girl that stubbornly rebelled against the natural order of things. Leaving chaos in her wake - Susie's jaw tightened.

Susie squealed in mock horror, running around exaggeratedly. "Oh, Leslie. Oh no, we can't upset her, oh precious Leslie, the special one... wait." Susie's eyes suddenly transformed ominously back into the cold orbs as her hands fell to her side. "Oh wait, yes, I remember. She's not here is she, but why wouldn't she be here? Why would the wonderful, perfect Miss Burke fail to accept our challenge, why isn't she here?"

"She will be," May Belle said, arms wide as she blanketed Alexandra.

"Oh, God, I really, really hate kids." There was a moment behind Susie's eyes, a painful wheeze of the chest. "Leslie's exactly the same, nothing more than a selfish idiot who jumps about recklessly, not giving a damn about anyone or anything - a modern day hippy. A joke, and a self-destructive one at that."

May Belle opened her mouth to protest but Susie swatted her away life a fly.

"Goofy clothes, a crappy world, juvenile behaviour and an imagination. Oh, don't get me wrong, she'll wheedle her way in there, make you believe every hollow promise." Susie looked like she'd swallowed something distasteful, eyes no longer cold but burning with passion.

"Leslie creates her own world because she can't handle the real one, she's a coward and a hypocrite, just like all of you who can't even sing your own damn national anthem. You sicken me. While we, and those who choose to follow, will have positive, constructive futures ahead. You'll all become another sad statistic, just like she will, living in chaos and forcing everyone else to clean up your mess. "

Susie's eyes resembled that of an innocent possessed by a demonic spirit as she rubbed her hands together, trying to generate some energy from within, mouthing the word 'selfish' with indignation.

"You'll see, she'll come running in here like an idiot, trying to play out one of her little fantasy stories and be the hero. Well this is the real world where we sit patiently with enough evidence to finally get her. I - we can end this stupid, pointless game of hers and prove that our way was right all along."

May Belle hesitated. This wasn't what Leslie had said it would be like. Leslie made it sound so easy, cool and even a little glorious. She would come in with grace and, like a golden haze enveloping the room, make everything alright again.

She gulped at the sight before her, her classmates' faces deflated by Susie's words like burst balloons. This was ugly, reality. The real world. Was what she saying true, no, Leslie wasn't bad? It was liking calling the Grand Canyon small and insignificant, no, it wasn't true.

Susie's proud, satisfied demeanour contrasted completely with the riddled expression of turmoil captioned in May Belle and her friends. "Now whadda you say we get started on the warm up? The crowd should be arriving soon, the whole school in fact, you don't want to let them down, do you?"

Susie picked up a dodgeball, aiming it directly at May Belle.

"You know this is almost sad, you're still going on about that imbecile that abandoned you. Fool, you'll thank me for this one day, the day we knocked some sense into all you!"

The other second graders gasped as the big kids behind Susie picked up dodgeballs of their own, but May Belle had eyes only for one.

There was a complex, ponderous look on Susie's face as her teeth bitterly chomped through contentious and theatrical words of 'order' and 'aspiration' one final time, her grip on the dodgeball unfailing. It was hard to narrow such a thing down to one word, but it was not too dissimilar to that quiet, poignant moment on stage a performer allows themselves in the interminable lull between the music's end and the audiences' judgement.

* * *

"Mr Turner, wa-" Earl yelled, but to no avail.

The door collapsed and the unforgiving face of the principle, Mr Turner, greeted them, anger quickly dissipating to shock. He was a short, round balding dark skinned man. With a bulbous nose like a snowman, and a bobbing sort of walk like he was on a kid's space hopper, excess fat jingling up and down.

It was the most horrible sight Jess had yet seen. He froze with fear as dangerous light from outside invaded the narrow confines of their tomb. The outside, what an odd concept. They'd become so insulated in their own little world, thoughts of life outside had become myth, had become pompous circumstance. This was life, right here.

"God, imagine if the education committee sees this... Just what are you kids doing anyway, you should... should be?" Mr Turner's tongue struggled to enunciate exactly he was seeing, arms pulsed and outstretched like he was trying to grapple an unmovable object. Four years of teacher training didn't quite cover _this._

Jess felt all life leave his body. He could hear Marie Loo sobbing in frustration across from him, the extreme cocktail of emotions now showing its toll. "After all that, after all we've been through... and now the whole school's..."

Mr Turner was quickly regaining his disciplinarian tone as he surveyed the mess before his eyes, hands on hips as he guffawed, cheeks wriggling. "Just what on earth are you talking about young woman? And look at the state of this – Myers! Mrs Myers."

Mr Turner rushed to her side the moment he saw her, breaking his authoritative façade for a second as concern flashed in his eyes.

"Someone, one of you, help me get her to the nurses, immediately!" he bellowed, but the class were too shattered to even muster a reaction.

"That stupid man."

"Now everyone's a gonner."

"Kids," he said forcefully, carrying the unconscious Mrs Myers. "If you don't return to your studies by the time I get back I'm suspending all of you. Consider that a promise. I'll be calling your parents, I'll be carrying out a full investigation, I'll be..."

Mr Turner's threats faded down the school corridor along with his furious footsteps, abandoning his students to a sea of self-pity.

Jess blinked at the shell-shocked expressions of his friends, feeling a sudden crushing wave of empathy. Not only did they have to die, but they had to have their final moments drowned by a costly failure to protect those they cared most for. Lord, could this get any worse?

Just as Jess contemplated collapsing on the floor and greeting the inevitable, a hand poked his back impatiently. Jess' confused expression turned to meet the shining eyes of Leslie Burke.

"It's lunch already..." she said, and Jess could almost feel the bewilderment radiating off of her.

"That's what he said," Jess answered, not sure why that was cause for surprise. They were dying, why was she still thinking with her stomach?

"Strange, I must have timed it wrong, oh well," Leslie mumbled, half to herself, "We should be dead by now..."

Richard – who had a habit of spying into Jess' conversations at every opportunity – spat loudly, squinting at Leslie in horror. "Well, don't complain."

Jess sighed as Leslie blatantly ignored Richard, scampering towards the bin, although thankfully not the one they'd used as Richard's vomit bag.

"Leslie, where are you going?" Even his hair felt weary as it sagged into his eyes.

When he'd corrected himself Leslie had already dipped her head in, upper half vanishing as her feet toyed with leaving the ground. "Hhhmmm, donnnn tsstt rhht aaalll..."

"Come again?"

"It doesn't taste right – no, that's like," Leslie's eyes took on a dreamy edge of pleasure as she lifted her head, "ice cream... yum, yum."

Jess shook his head with exasperation. Lord, did parents even tell their children not to eat out of bins, he'd sort of taken it for granted that all humans possessed that level of common sense.

"Leslie," Jess started, mulling over how to explain this moot point.

"No, no." The idiot was talking to herself again. "The instructions were pretty clear that it was completely tasteless, at least to human taste buds."

With that sentence Leslie now had everyone's attention. He rolled his eyes at her innate ability to create a scene out of any and every household item. "You're supposed to say these things at the start!."

Earl was disinterested in their tedious bickering, placing a hand on his forehead to ease his troubled mind, "Wait, let me get this straight... this means we're not dead... right?"

Leslie made him wait for a moment as Jess felt the intake of breath from anything with a pulse. The only male in the Aarons family litter watched intensely as Leslie licked the strange substance from her lips, dusting her clothes down jovially as kicked away the bin. She must have deemed her state satisfactory as she turned towards them. "Yeah, isn't it great!"

And breathe.

Jess felt his muscles relax for the first time since this whole misadventure had begun. Lord, after all of that, they were going to be okay. He took a few thankful glances at his skin; tingling at the thought of a deadly disease touching him, and for the first time greatly appreciative of his health.

Jess felt something by his side. He turned, smiling despite himself at the unparalleled joy on almost everyone's faces, an expression all the more poignant considering the depths that they'd all reached together. This joy wasn't quite universal, however, Jess raising a quizzical in Mai's direction when she stiffened, an air of... resignation around her?

"Oh, I'm fine." The girl blushed a little, embarrassed at the attention. It was probably the ordeal getting to her, he reasoned, nodding politely.

Unfortunately as most released their pent up emotion through exhausted happy tears, a few had different methods of therapy.

"So we've been sitting around acting like idiots, calling our parents of all things – for no reason?" Earl's tone wasn't quite as joyous; baring his teeth and practically spewing. Lord, it was like playing all the keys on a keyboard in descending order the way his voice reached its dour, embittered end.

Leslie, for once, seemed a bit perturbed by his enraged state, waving her arms madly to try and calm him.

"What a stroke of luck, isn't it?" she said, trying to almost inject her own enthusiasm into him with an enduring look. "Now we can all be friends, an-"

"I'm gonna kill you!" Earl was beyond reasoning, and Jess felt a sudden deja vu as he watched Leslie being backed into a corner.

"Oh, come on, not this again." Leslie was operating at full capacity, body twitching like she'd got a shock of electricity. "Surely you've all learned the error of your ways? What do you say, everyone?"

"Whatever Earl does, I do." Carl took up his mantle as Earl's shadow, right behind him. Jess groaned as Marie Loo and several others also encroached further into Leslie's corner with dangerous intent.

"Give me a reason, Burke?" Earl said, fist clenched in a show of power.

Leslie brightened somewhat, permission to talk like honey for a bee. "Well, okay, let me think..."

Her indomitable spirit sprung sprightly into action. "Right, nothing truly dies... they just transform – very cool thought. So you see, by changing into more mature people, people who would never dream of killing a dear friend, you've actually embraced transformation, which is like dying – of a sort... anyway, so I was right, you're all dead, congratulations."

"Burke." Earl's face was set like stone, although it was more down to the fact that he'd reached his decision. "Four hours of this crap, four hours I've had to deal with and now someone is gonna pay. Someone's to blame here, and you're bloody bonkers enough to be responsible for this crap."

"Actually I'm only slightly bonkers, so there?" Leslie tried hopefully, hoping in vain to sway him with trivial details. Jess slapped his forehead on impulse. Calling Leslie 'slightly bonkers' was like calling a pregnant women 'somewhat pregnant'.

"You're making jokes." Earl's breathing was now coming in very deep insidious shots of barely repressed anger, momentary serenity forgotten. "You bloody put us through hell... and you're bloody making jokes!"

Leslie winced profoundly before wriggling her eyebrows and sticking out her tongue as if she tasted something foul. "Apparently not very good ones, judging by your reaction."

That was the final straw. Just as Earl released a guttural war cry, pulling his fist back to strike...

"What is the meaning of this?" A very disgruntled principal stood in the doorway, figure imposing as he motioned to enter.

It seemed the fates had conspired to keep Leslie upright for a little while longer. Taking the distraction for all it was worth, Leslie nearly tackled Mr Turner as she slid into the corridor like a reckless driver. A shocked principle stumbled as Leslie bolted away.

"Good day, sir. Lovely tie, by the way. Ties are cool." Leslie waved politely for a brief second before returning to full pelt.

Mr Turner didn't even have time to correct his dishevelled purple tie before Earl and the rest of those seeking vengeance barged past him as well, this time knocking him flat on his back.

"Poor, Leslie," Madison whispered. Jess grinned darkly, slapping his cheeks as he made for the door.

"Hey, wait bud, where you going?" Richard rushed to his side.

"I can't just let them kill here, she may be an idiot, but she's my idiot - I mean my responsibility. Besides, Judy would never forgive me," Jess said firmly. Although he thought P.T might appreciate the new found peace, and Bill would probably get a kick out of the swashbuckling story. Might inspire a new book in her honour.

"Mr Aarons, you will stay in the class, you will sit at your desk and you will behave like a civ-"

"Sorry, and the tie really is kinda nice" Jess said sincerely as he too rushed past the prone principle, mourning the death of logic and sanity. He was shocked to find several pairs of legs following him.

"Guys, you don't have to come." Jess turned his head slightly, his legs continuing to pump away as he weaved through the disorganised and narrow confines of the school corridors, thirty heads turning with interest whenever he flew past an open door.

Richard laughed heartily at the remark. "As if I'd let the babe get killed, I still need that date I was promised."

Mai and Madison just shook their heads, saving their breath for running. Satisfied, Jess turned his head back, eyes narrowing as they followed the stampede. They were a good ten metres back, the crowd obviously had the disadvantage of having to fit into a narrow corridor, so he was cautiously optimistic of making it, head lowering as the wind lapped at his feet, nothing more than a mild annoyance. He would make it.

He frowned as they passed the exit to the playground, hair violently swishing around his face. Just where was Leslie running too? He supposed it was easier to outmanoeuvre a mob in close quarters rather than the open and exposed playground, but it all seemed a little...

Wait, there! Jess' eyes widened in understanding as they were captivated by the familiar glint of the lockers. Of course. The gym hall, there was a tournament going on there, it would be crowded to the maximum – good idea, Leslie. They could get lost in the mass crowd of bodies and escape out the back-door, just like old times.

They were closer now, and Jess could make out Leslie's blond hair slightly ahead of the chasing pack as he strained his body over a fallen chair.

Jess' brief ray of hope was quenched when Leslie stumbled, hitting the door to the gym with a dull ugly thump. He felt Madison's nervous agitation beside him, and Jess tensed, limbs finding an extra gear even as they protested.

Jess' chest tightened as Leslie tapped her forehead gingerly, wincing as she tried to almost fall to her feet. Dazed and disorientated, the door completely evaded her grasp as she snatched at thin air. Earl quickly reached her, picking her up from the floor fully by her shirt and holding her up for display.

Jess' jaw set as he watched Earl's hand form into a fist.

"Put her down, Watson!" he said, finding the breath from somewhere as he slowed down, now only a few feet away. He felt Mai, Madison and Richard by his side as they barged through the rowdy crowd who sensed blood.

"I said put her down, Watson," Jess demanded again as he reached his destination, eyes grave as his fists clenched in readiness.

Earl no longer ignored Jess, even turning to taunt him with a smug grin as he tightened his grip on Leslie's shirt. She was starting to regain her equilibrium, eyes popping out in surprise as she realised she was off the ground.

"You want this, Aarons?" Earl encouraged Jess with a 'bring it on' motion using his free hand, goading Jess with that arrogant look of his which placed his own opinion on matters above everyone else's.

Lord, he pissed him off him. No more standing by watching, he'd had his whole life to try that out and it wasn't working, time for something new.

"Shut up, big mouth, away and kiss Miss Myers butt," Jess said, mimicking Earl's saccharine tone whenever he talked to a teacher, puckering his lips exaggeratedly.

The jibe hit close to home, Earl growled as if something inside him had been struck, dropping Leslie like a ragged doll as his protuberant eyes locked onto a new target. Jess stood stoically as the brute's face went from anger to grave offence and then right back to anger. "What you calling me, you-"

The confrontation was suddenly broken by the irrepressible Leslie, who clicked her fingers and gave a buoyant cheer that was completely inappropriate. Lord, Jess could almost envision her turning up to a funeral with party hats.

"Ah, I have it."

Jess sighed as a figurative light bulb appeared over her head.

Earl laughed sarcastically, face wrinkling in disbelief. "Yeah, my fist-"

"No, it was the council." Leslie waved him off irritably.

"The council." Carl, Earl's shadow, repeated with confusion. "What are you going on about, if you think this will save your neck..."

"Who handles the mail in the school?" Leslie said impatiently, dancing on her tip toes exuberantly like a smart kid in class who knew the answer to every question.

"The council, you idiot, " Marie Loo supplied helpfully.

Leslie's newly found effervescent demeanour was boiling over uncontrollably, hands gesticulating at twice their normal speed. "And where did the fake bomb come from?"

Richard's face darkened in bad memories. "Those gits... everyone knows they mess about... but no, wouldn't- what do they have against us?"

Leslie looked flush with exhilaration. Jess likened it to doing something that seemed impossible before for the first time, like swimming or riding a bike. Lord, that feeling you get when you stop and realise that you've cracked it.

Jess gave a half-smile to himself as Leslie corrected Richard. "No, proper question is what do they have against me?"

Richard nodded, mouth forming into an 'o' of understanding. "Ah, I see, you pissed them off yesterday, they were trying to get their own back... right?"

Jess noticed several of the crowd muttering to themselves, digesting the revelation of their misery makers' identities. They were waning, he thought, Leslie's argument seemed plausible and no one needed an excuse to dislike the council.

Leslie grew impatient, raising her voice in a coaxing manner in a desperate attempt to install some urgency. "Well, come on then. Are you just going to sit there and take that, made to look a fool? Or are you gonna fight back?"

Earl scratched his neck uncomfortably, anger quickly evaporating like steam from a kettle. "I don't know... they're the student council after all..." Lord, of all the times to regain your sanity.

Jess watched with captivation as Leslie turned on her 'messianic' mode. She was practically sparkling, speech turning into that of an aloof queen so naturally. "What happened to the 'do or die' spirit that you displayed so commendably just a moment ago? Where has the fight gone? Or are you merely a bunch of snivelling cowards?"

"I'm no coward, Burke!" Marie Loo snapped back promptly, earning a wry smile from Leslie.

"Prove it then."

Marie Loo frowned, then nodded begrudgingly. "You're right for once, Burke. Let's kill them."

"Ka-kah, that's what I like to see." Like a troublesome witch's potion, Leslie's eyes were a nefarious mixture of intelligence and childish mischief.

A loud muffled rumble came from the door, silencing everyone. Jess squinted, straining to hear as he stood on tip toe. The tell tale sounds of trainers squeaking against the polished gym floor was unmistakable, as was the sharp cry of pain that suddenly smothered his ears. It sounded like...

His eyes searched for Leslie but she was evasive. This was the student council, the maestros of Lark Creek Elementary for so long and the jewel in Mr Turner's crown. This was the big tournament, the whole school was gonna head there soon. They couldn't go charging in there without some semblance of a plan.

Jess shook his head. "Lord, we need-"

"Jess," Leslie interrupted, grinning coyly. "I've been through this with you before. In public you should just call me Leslie."

"Leslie!" Jess yelled, trust her to completely alter his mood in one swift stroke.

"Ah, see. That wasn't so hard. Remember what I said this morning about that expression of yours. Read it like a book. A pretty boring book I might add again, with poor character development and-"

"Look, can we cut out the domestics, just what are we going to do?" Marie Loo said, seemingly desperate to crack some skulls as several others snorted with amusement.

"See that's it, isn't it, the human race. Spend all your time chin wagging and never get anything done." Leslie spun madly, urging them forward with a pointed gesture towards the door.

"Follow me, ka-kah, you don't know how long I've wanted to say that. Almost as much as: last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, where the heck is the ceiling! He, he, he. How about: he's so far in the closet he's in Narnia. No? How about something profound like, hhhmmm, ah, I know: just remember, if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off." Leslie began bailing into fits of laughters, stamping her feet on the ground in a completely inappropriate and inopportune time.

"Honestly, not good to keep that sort of thing in, one day you might explode – therapeutic I say. I've got bags of this stuff."

Leslie halted her incessant laughter for a moment, rubbing her chin . "Well, actually, now that I think about it... there are quite a few, oh well, no time like the present. How about last words: Freeeedom! You cannot win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Nope, I prefer : never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. Hahaha!"

"Leslie!" Jess started with a warning tone, nearing his limits.

"She _is_ bloody bonkers," Earl muttered to Carl, who nodded without hesitation.

Leslie straightened her back, waving her right hand in a disapproving gesture as she emitted a few 'tssks'. "Now, now. I said quite bonkers. Even if I was, I wouldn't suffer such a thing; I'd enjoy every minute of it."

You're not supposed to be proud of something like that, Jess thought with chagrin. Leslie quickly pulled his shirt eagerly, grip tenacious as she hopped madly.

"Oh, please, one more. Please, please, please." Leslie was at her vivacious best, eyes blazing with an efficacious nature for play, no matter the situation. Was the day finally getting to her? Had Leslie Burke finally fallen of the cliff?

Lord, don't tell him this was her attempt at trying to ingratiate herself to them. Did she actually listen to the vitriol she spouted?

"Do you promise you'll shut up and let us think of a plan?" Jess said, bracing a hand on her shoulder to try and quell her incessant hopping.

"Sure, sure, okay something inspiring, something to motivate even the most weary heart. Ah, okay: I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives. What do you think?"

Jess opened his mouth dumbly before closing it, incapable of finding a word suitable for her antic disposition. How on earth was that inspiring – he cursed the person who'd fed her a lame joke book for breakfast.

Earl regained his composure first, tightening his collar with pragmatism as he offered diplomatically, "Okay, now let's think, how are we - wait, Burke, what are you doing?"

"Follow me!" Leslie cheered as she turned to the door.

Jess gulped nervously as Leslie's face erupted into that trademark devilish grin that promised to oppose anything and everything that had the temerity to stand in her way. It was like ogling at a car crash. He knew he should respectfully look away, that what he was witnessing was an endless amount of trouble and… but he just couldn't look away. Not now. Not ever.

He couldn't restrain a sigh of tiredness as he watched another repeat of a scene he'd witnessed thousands of times before. Leslie dusted herself down before smashing the door and jumping right back into the cockpit, another potential blaze of glory awaiting her at the unreachable finishing line that was always both so close, and yet so far away.

Leslie's eyes were dazzling, the constellation reaching its apex. Her expression, by contrast, possessing all the thoughtfulness of a dog chasing a car.

As Jess followed quickly, hot on her heels as the story before him began to unravel, he remained unphased, merely bemoaning the fact that whatever Leslie did, it always had to involve them running for their lives.

* * *

Author's Confessions: And another original character joins the cast, fetching a 'cool' tie as well - must be in double figures by now, surely? Anyway this chapter was a chance to develop Susie's character through the eyes of someone completely terrified of her. Balancing comedy with a serious undercurrent can be a bit difficult, but I think it'll turn out okay.

Oh, and what happens to the second graders and Jess' class is actually pretty harrowing under the surface, and that isn't something that will slide away without consequence.

Finally, I like to pick obscure chapter tittles ordinarily, ones that aren't immediately obvious but are still significant. I don't mean it in a patronising way but hopefully it'll make you look out for it in the chapter, and thus emphasise it. For me, if you're gonna bother naming chapters to begin with, you might as well have a little fun with them.

Thanks for reading and feedback is always appreciated

Shamo9


	7. Cause and Effect

Head in the Clouds

Chapter Seven

Cause and Effect

_Nobody really even knew her name_

* * *

And Jess followed proudly - until Leslie came inches away from decapitating him with a sudden and reckless u-turn more at home in Super Mario Kart.

"Leslie." Jess stumbled, falling gracelessly onto his backside. "What the-"

"On second thought," Leslie said, silencing Jess' protests with an unwelcome hand clamped over his mouth. "I think I'll go with Shakespeare on this one - discretion is the better part of valour - what's the time?"

"Gah!" Jess freed his mouth from Leslie's clutches, pushing her away so he could get about wiping it furiously with his forearm. "What's that gotta do with-"

"It's around two o'clock, of course," Richard said, joining the long list of people who thought it prudent to let Jess Aarons never finish a thought again. "We passed the old bat Steedman's office on the mad dash here, observant, that's me."

A few girls shifted away slightly as he beckoned for praise, eyes wandering more than was strictly necessary.

"No." Leslie waved him away impatiently, which resulted in her nearly slapping a classmate, such was the narrow confines of the school corridors. "I need the time exactly_._"

Why didn't she say this sort of thing at the start? Jess sighed, not daring to complain any more least he be cut off again. He tiredly pushed his way through the sweaty, school uniform clad mass of humanity towards Mai and the relatively calm of the wall.

Lord, he was back to clinging to walls for refuge - long repressed memories of Brenda and Ellie wanting to play 'a little game called dress up' came flooding back with all the fury of two teenaged girls' scorned!

"For God's sake, Burke." Earl angrily shoved his digital wristwatch into her face (which wasn't much of a stretch). "It's 2:08."

"I never have enough time," Leslie muttered quietly to herself, leaning back with exaggeration like a deer in headlights as she refocussed her eyes. "Ah, okay, would you mind waiting here for seven minutes?"

"Why the bloody hell are we gonna do that for, like?" Marie Loo said, her scathing retorts something of an instinctive reaction after a good fourteen years of practice.

"You want to get back at the Council, is it not so?"

Marie Loo didn't even dignify that remark with a response, nodding with agitation as she huffed.

Leslie bowed in thanks, effortlessly flirting between prodigal genius and village idiot. "Then wait for four minutes for maximum 'get back'. Oh, come on, Leslie, you can do better than that. Hey, isn't that the first sign of madness? Anyway, trust me on this – the first one I mean."

The blue eyed girl tapped her chin, unconsciously leaning on a mortified boy's shoulder as if he were nothing more than a conveniently placed wall. "Yeah, definitely the first one. So trust me, ka-kah, people should do that more often actually. I'll signal you in five – seven even! Bye, bye."

"Signal - with what?" a few inquired with the addition of a slightly more 'colourful' vocabulary.

"Oh, don't worry, Jess'll know..." And without another word Leslie disappeared like a puff of smoke... a very impudent, selfish puff at that.

Jess's face turned a vary pale shade of white as thirty expectant faces turned to him, disrupting his sabbatical with demanding looks. The lone warrior prepared his throat loudly, momentarily tempted to hide behind the all too serene Mai - who seemed quite content to silently observe the huddle of mad, big, scary, numerous – lord, this wasn't helping!

_Oh, well_. He shrugged defensively, expression dully blank.

"Lord, how am I supposed to know?"

* * *

May Belle winced, trying in vain to rub some life into her numbed arm . She surveyed the scene before her, eyes moist and puffy with sweat and... It was like something oughtta that movie she'd watched last week. Only now, Brenda and Ellie weren't trying to hold in their laughter, Joyce Ann wasn't chewing on the remote and May Belle certainly had no popcorn to nibble on.

"May, it's not – I can't..."

May Belle sprung into action immediately, breathing heavily as she tried to lift Alexandra to her feet. "No! You gotta move... you gotta-"

She noted the sweat on Alexandria's face making her hair all sticky and tangled, there was also a strange red tomatoey mark on her knuckles that seemed eerily familiar to May Belle.

"Face it, May," Rachel said, fiery spirit beaten and left for dead. Still, the assured smile of cockiness managed a cameo appearance, even if her legs couldn't stop wobbling."No one's... coming. They don't care, they just _don't_."

May Belle was desperate to interject, to tell Rachel she was taking nonsense. Instead May Belle panted as the weight of Alexandra's limp body, along with her own battered sack of bones, was almost too much to bare.

They'd never gone this far before... The council always made fun of them, always made them sing things till their tongues stuck to their mouths. A little name calling, a little 'accident'... but this... May Belle couldn't escape the question: why now?

"Keep moving." The council swarmed around like vultures, only worse because they weren't interested in sitting back and waiting.

May Belle watched in horror as they roughly pushed some of her classmates back into position, right into the centre of the room where there was no place to hide. All the while they continued to regurgitate that this was a game of dodgeball, and if they couldn't master such a simple game then what hope was there for them in the future?

"Move it or lose it, kid!" one of the towering giants said, roughly pushing an unexpectant boy from behind, causing him to skid across the polished floor, his exposed skinny knees tearing painfully like cheese on a grater.

May Bell's toes curled anxiously, a lump in her throat – that was her friend. They'd drawn on toilet paper together when there was nothing left to do, made do with hopscotch in the corridors during break when the upper grades got antsy. He'd even shared his crummy milk juice the cafeteria gave them every lunch yesterday because she'd still been thirsty.

She felt something stir within her, recalling vividly the feeling she'd gotten back then. Like they were all getting one over the grown ups who never listened, who thought they knew better and were always 'busy' when you needed them. She felt like she'd been part of a team, like she was in on a big secret that was theirs and no one else's, not even her sisters.

So why was she standing there today, why were they all standing there when he needed them?

May Belle felt a sudden movement to her right.

"You can't just do that -" Rachel's outrage was cut short as a red blur smacked her straight in the face without warning. May Belle blinked in disbelief as Rachel soundlessly collapsed. The remnants of the cocky smile vanishing without a trace

"Hey, get up." the booming voice said, another fiery red blur narrowly missed Rachel's prone form.

"Stop it!" It was out before she could stop herself. May Belle held a recalcitrant hand over her mouth as if she could grab the words back. She winced. Footsteps approached.

"This is Dodgeball, you brat. Dodge."

The voice was upon her, sounding like it was coming from miles overhead. May Belle braced herself, not even bothering to beg. Why waste the effort? What good had it done? Who was she kidding anyway, they were all out for themselves, and when being together became more trouble than it was worth...

She closed her eyes deathly tight, not wanting to even look at them for the shame at having believed in something so stupid. Everyone would've laughed at her if she'd said such a darn thing out loud, such a stupid, silly thing.

Why couldn't she be back in bed? She didn't care about any of this any more, all she wanted was _her _bed. She could almost see Joyce Ann's left leg fidgeting under the covers across from her; hear Daddy's big reassuring voice echoing from the living room and feel Jess' light snores vibrating to her left – only stopping temporarily to tell her to get back to bed when she bothered him.

_Jess..._

May Belle's already swollen arms pulsed, but not with pain. She couldn't give up now. Jess would never look at her again if she did. She imagined how embarrassing it was for him to have a complete wuss as a sister. She was such a bother to him, a dumb kid that still played with dolls.

May Belle's chest heaved. Her eyes opening in steely determination as her arm-made shield was lowered. The big kid hesitated in surprise, but then quickly recovered.

"So we've got a troublemaker now?"

_No. Not any more._

The big kid's face erupted in red, white eyes practically popping out at May Belle's open insubordination.

"What should we do with this one, Susie, think she's a bad egg?" he said, never quite taking his protuberant reddening eyes off of the smaller girl as if it would concede defeat.

The leader of the pack appeared deftly, rhythm unflinching as she quickly assessed the situation with the speed of someone who'd always been there. "Lock her up for a while, that should set her straight, use the cupboard in the clubroom, I've been meaning to clear it out."

May Belle's posture remained straight, head held high as she resigned herself to her fate, undaunted by the grissly smile from the big kid as he reached hungrily to steal her away – until a softer, much smaller pair of hands wrapped around her waist, refusing to let go.

"Alexandra?" May Belle gasped. Alexandra didn't even say anything, just kept holding tightly as she buried her trembling face into May Belle's abdomen.

"Now isn't that cute." The voice of Susie held all the tenderness of a killer snake slowly wrapping itself around its victim's neck.

Alexandra finally cried out as the friend's embrace was forcible ripped apart. May Belle swung her hands savagely, trying desperately to lash out at something, to grip it and tear it to pieces. She felt a powerful grip pull her arms painfully behind her back. The spikes of pain as pressure was applied was enough for her to stop, still growling in fury as voices from above decided her fate.

"Susie, don't you think this has gone a little... er, far?"

"This is the only way they'll learn, Claire, we've been through this before. If they want to imitate an idiot like Leslie Burke, this is what happens. Oh, quite the fiery one, isn't she? Craig, take her out back, we don't want to cause a scene."

May Belle felt bile rise in her throat as Susie chuckled at the weeping Alexandra cradling the floor. She pulled and struggled furiously, adamant even as she was forcibly dragged away that she would wipe that stupid grin off of her prissy face, the face that was laughing at her friend, her _best_ friend. She oughtta rip her bloody eyes out!

"Okay, you can get up now," Susie said, growing irritable as Alexandra continued to cry on the floor. The last remnants of May Belle's brief rebellion dissipated as the hearts of the youngsters grew cold at what was about to come.

Susie sighed. "God, you're all so pathetic... why do I even bother?"

As if to answer her quip the main entrance door of the gym creaked agonisingly into life, the old bolts of the door protesting at the intrusion. Susie turned round, expression unperturbed as the cause was revealed.

"Hi... I'm in search of myself," Leslie said, giving a polite wave to all present. "Have you seen me anywhere? Hah! Philosophy in the morning – Cicero would be proud. Now give me a dictator to lambast, Caesar, where are you? Yahoo! Sorry, couldn't resist that one."

Leslie grimaced as the door groaned loudly behind her. "That door's murder, you need to get a man in, or even better, scrap the idea of a door altogether."

The blond haired girl was like a DVD stuck on fast-forward as her acerbic tongue continued firing away at an alarming rate. "Terribly troublesome doors. All they ever do is lock you out, or lock you in – what's the use in that? It's like we actually - ah, so many allegories, so little time to coerce such a turgid crowd. Ka-kah, nice word turgid, shamefully overlooked, nice word."

The youngsters that hadn't been completely beaten lifted their weary heads, eyes widening with hope as they invested their last. "Look, it's her."

Leslie sapped up the sporadic gasps, waving to the largest congregation of student council members she could find, approaching with the veneer of respectability. "Pleasant to meet you once again, oh esteemed student counc-"

"What do you want?" Susie was livid; eyes epileptic, hair ragged, suffice to say she looked somewhat like Mrs Myers when it was time to hand in homework

"Hey, no need for that." Leslie feigned offence, almost swaying from side to side rather than walking. "What happened to the match we arranged?"

Susie shook her head in disgust, the word clown multiplying in her mind like an infestation of rats. Still, Susie reasoned, the buffoon was woefully outnumbered... it would be oh so easy to finally wipe that smug look from her face.

Susie's face sparked into life with glee as her voice turned back into it's natural taunt. "I'm afraid we started without you, what a poor example you set, arriving late."

She gave a satisfied chortle as she finished, encouraged by the dazed blinking from the girl in front of her.

"You... did this?" Leslie said, giving the hall a woefully inadequate scan from the corner of her eye, attention apparently devoted to staring at Susie. The other members of the council tried to remain stoic and professional, feeling like pawns in a chess game where no one quite knew how to play.

"They had to learn that the only one who will save them is themselves," Susie said vaguely, defiance and vindication rife in her demeanour as she nodded to herself, glaring at her handiwork as if to dare it to disagree.

Leslie nearly feinted on the spot. Stumbling dizzily to the point that several council members actually grew worried about her physical state. She suddenly lunged forward like a drunkard collapsing, wrapping her arms around Susie without warning, nearly lifting the older girl off of her feet as she squeezed, whispering something for their ears only.

"Oh, I could kiss you right now. I've always wanted my own antagonist. Of course, Jess couldn't do it as he's too soft-hearted, but you, aren't you just a little tyrant you. Fantastic, " Leslie said, ruffling Susie's hair affectionately like they were long lost siblings.

"Ugh, get off, would one of you bloody gits get this bloody idiot off. Now!" Susie struggled, grappling and pulling at the surprisingly tight grip. She huffed in both fury and embarrassment, about to scream again, when she was dropped to the floor unceremoniously, the rest of the council frozen in shock.

Susie gasped as air was restored to her lungs, blinking rapidly as she tried to fathom this new move.

"Can I just say." Leslie wasn't done, reaching down to cradle Susie's fallen form with all the care and tenderness that an artist would give to a creation they'd toiled laboriously over for years. "I love you."

Leslie's voice was... thin, as if her words had travelled a great distance, lost so much in its journey to arrive at Susie's ears. The student council member felt like she'd been intoxicated. Their faces were close, too close. Pain and joy had etched faint lines around both eyes and mouth, that was where one laughed, where they cried.

Susie had never imagined a face could hold so much, so many stories to tell. How much could one learn from only a face? Bringing everything into focus. A beautiful mess of tears, dirt, blood, sweat and, perhaps most chilling of all, age. The time they'd had and the time they had left shown clearly, irrevocable.

Susie snapped out of her reverie with a flinch. Tensing in Leslie's gentle touch on her shoulders, so gentle she worried if the girl was actually touching her, or if it was all madness. Their eyes met. Leslie's blue eyes so much like his. Leslie's lips surely titled upwards, although it wasn't a smile, it was a perfectly executed simulation with no emotion or life behind it. And it wasn't a smile. Susie shivered.

"Ha! You blinked. Finally, you wouldn't believe how many indignities I've suffered at the hands of that dastardly Bill in mu – uh oh, I've lost it, where was I, ah, annoying. Sheesh, they should put some parental guidance on staring, it's dangerous."

And the quiet, tender revelation was lifted like a great fog evaporating. Leslie changed. The deranged girl lowered her head like a robot on stand-by, lips moving soundlessly as she trawled through the junk residing in her mind.

"Ah, love, right, I love you, that's it's, really, I do. That's what I was saying." Leslie clapped her hands together in victory, discarding Susie like a forgotten doll as she twirled in between the rooted council members, who were unsure exactly how to tackle this... enigmatic figure?

Had she been in her right mind Susie would've been utterly mortified to be reduced to mere mush left on the floor by one look – but what a _look._ What a familiar look. Susie felt a tremor in her bowels as the impact stayed with her, practically scolded into her eye sockets.

It had been like having your pet cat meow monotonously in your distracted ear, before surmising in perfect Shakespearian English the secret to the universe, only to then revert back to a belch-like meow the second you lifted your head in astonishment. Not in a million years had she seen that coming, not in a million years.

"Completely head over heals, I do," Leslie finished before starting anew effortlessly. "You see you're so human – and so thick as well. Hey, don't look like that, it's brilliant! See, you do all this, this."

Leslie pointed around her as if she'd turned into a ebullient tour guide trying to sell the scene to hesitant tourists. "This crazy madness for something so silly, so insignificant. Cause with humans it's all cause and effect, someone does this to you, you do this. So... why?"

Leslie tilted her to the side at the other council members as if the world worked better that way. "Is it because your parents ignore all the hardwork you put in, is it because that boy you like doesn't even look at you? Come on, I've heard it all before. See? Not your ordinary clueless protagonist, a thousand apologies."

"We don't need to justify ourselves to you." The boy with the glasses scoffed sourly, giving the still stunned Susie a momentary flash of concern before continuing. "The ends justify the means. When these kids grow up to be strong, disciplined young people with initiative, drive and a willingness to do whatever it takes to fulfil their dreams, then... we stop."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Leslie rolled her eyes, ushering him to be silent as she huffed petulantly like she was watching a particular drab but necessary scene in an otherwise interesting movie. "I've heard this song and dance before but come on, let's hear it, _really_. The reason, what trauma hides behind those... flying saucers you use as eyes. "

Silence, until the boy with the glasses instead of eyes shook his head pityingly, pinching the bridge of his nose as he readied himself, glaring at Leslie, but not with anger. "We toughen them up, leave them healthy and hardy – we open doors for them that weren't even conceivable before. _We_ are disadvantaged from birth, maybe not you but we damn well are!"

The boy breathed a deep, soothing breathing, chest puffing out. And then in. "That's why we need to work harder than everyone else, have discipline to overcome all the vices in our world. If you can't grasp that, if you can't take hope from it, then I feel sorry for you."

"Wait... so, you actually believe in all this bahooky." Leslie crunched up her face, looking like she'd gulped down a large dose of sour medicine.

The boy with the glasses felt a sudden force grab his collar, Leslie's eyes examining him up close in much the same she'd studied Susie, practically hunting for any lingering doubts or façades. Only this time the novelty had worn off. He was guarded and ready.

"We already know you've been planning something, Burke," he said. "You were to have something delivered to you today, correct? We were originally gonna secretly give it back after finding out what was inside – catch you red handed as it were. But judging by your expression, I personally think we should go back to the clubroom and give it straight to the principle."

The bespectacled boy nodded, glasses audaciously boring right back at Leslie. Obstinate, resistant – anything that suggested a fervent desire to be diametrically opposed to Leslie Burke was suitable to describe the boy at that moment.

"Well, that's..." For once the great wordsmith Leslie Burke was completely at a lost for that very same commodity: words. She ended up settling for 'weird' after a painful pause, but the unsettled expression on her face told a different story.

She let go of her ever tightening grip on the boy's collar as an afterthought. Clenching and unclenching her hands as if she were unsure why they were there.

"Is that all?" one of the council members behind the boy she'd almost strangled couldn't help but quip brazenly.

He was muscular, tall, tanned and seemed to be already balding. The boy that had been mere inches from knocking Leslie into next week the last time she'd crossed the council yesterday. His smugness indicated that he was perfectly cognisant of this fact, illustrating that the brief flurry of shock and surprise manifested by Leslie had finally blown away completely

Leslie, indomitable to the last, seemed to grab on to the comment like a rope thrown overboard, wrestling back to her normal energetic ambience with a wry smile. "Ah, right, what's your name? Actually, no, names don't matter, it's what you do, or rather for you, what you say. So, what do you say?"

"I say you're an idiot," the hulk of a boy muttered dismissively, mockingly tilting his head sideways as if to dare her to try anything on him as well. They were ready now; they were the student council and she was a daft girl now seen plainly, all thunder and no lightening

"No, apart from that." Leslie looked like some sort of avid charade player, spinning her hands to and fro as if she were coaxing an invisible instrument to play her tune. "Come on, I'll give you a hint, a confrontational phrase, uses the word army, very popular, instigates a challenge. First word you."

"Go stuff yourself."

Many beside the hulk leaned over to pat his impervious back, although not all were so eager to pass up a challenge.

"You and what army, is it? It is isn't it?" The boy with glasses instead of eyes blurted out instinctively. Years of being the teacher's pet giving him an intuitive anticipation for questions and a quick, on your feet, mind for helpful hints.

Susie finally recovered, spitting bloody fury, but not in Leslie's direction. "Fool, honestly, do you have to be a pathetic little know it all? Do not play _her_ games, can't you see? This is what she..."

Leslie yawned loudly to drown out Susie's tirade, body suddenly twisting into a striking victory pose, right forefingers pointing proudly to the sky. "Ka-kah, and there it is. That's all I need. It's what you said, you and what army, oh, this is too good... this one."

Leslie arrowed her body towards the door she had just come from jubilantly.

"The Terabithian army of justice!" Throwing the cheesy line like a dodgeball, Leslie turned back proudly to the council. Apparently satisfied.

After a few moments of silence, one of the members dared cough. "Erm, what the hell?"

Leslie turned, frowning at the door. "I said, the Terabithian army of justice – Jess?"

A disgruntled boy opened the gates of hell. "What sort of signal is that?"

Where did she get these names from? No, seriously, he really wanted to know so he could slap said person in the face with a sledgehammer.

"Come on, Jess, say it with me, ppllleeeaseee." Leslie was fidgeting like a petulant child, the end of the sentence coming out as an elongated whine of syllables rather than a particular word.

Jess gritted his teeth as the last vestige of dignity was taken from him ruthlessly, sighing as his stupid band of 'warriors' charged past him on cue. Stupid ruthless aggression etched on all their stupid faces like cheap and tacky war paint.

Leslie stood proudly with hands on hips, humming the upbeat tune 'War' as the Terabithian army marched to war – and much bloodshed. Lord, he mourned the day when Leslie got it into her stubborn head that she was an amalgamation of Mother Theresa, Tinkerbell and Jesus Christ.

The student council barely had time to scream as thirty demented savages charged at them, dodgeballs almost magnetically zooming into their hands. Better you than me, he thought, giving an apologetic wave of the hand to them at his failure to provide a suitable eulogy.

Lord, Leslie was perhaps the most compelling argument against reading to children. He felt the need to warn any prospective parent pre-emptively that, in Leslie's case, every little nuance from every fictional setting that had ever been read to her had permeated into her whirlwind like head, creating an unstoppable tsunami of trouble; everyone else sitting obliviously on the beach, Jess front and centre, words of warning wasted on deaf ears –

"Hey, Leslie, why are you, don't close the..."

As the door ominously groaned into place with an air of finality, sealing them in... the student council simultaneously wet themselves.

_Lord, definitely better you than me_.

* * *

Author's Confessions: Ah, finally progress. Sorry about the delay, things just got in the way. From now on the story will begin to gather steam, moving to its final conclusion (hopefully). I know I have a tendency to ramble during internal monologues as Sharkie kindly pointed out. It can be difficult to really spot that in your own writing, so the bit where Susie and Leslie stare down was me poking fun at my bad habits. Anyway this chapter kind of speaks for itself, it's about continuing to develop the conflict between the council and Leslie, as well as raising the stakes with May Belle.

The next chapter is about 70% done, so expect that by the end of the month. I plan to end this story by the 14th chapter, and already have them planned out. It's now a case of actually getting down and writing them out. I feel my writing is slowly but surely beginning to improve, I'm more aware of dialogue, show vs tell, proportion and adverbs now so hopefully it'll be enjoyable for you. It won't be perfect, but it is for free...

If you spot any errors or have any gripes then don't forever hold your peace. There's nothing I hate more than looking over an old piece of work and finding it riddled with errors or inconsistencies.

So thanks for sticking with it for so long! Sharkie, G-Matt, Joan Grace Almo and sonicboy112

Sonicboy112 you're correct. I am aware of Haruhi. One of its biggest attractions to me is the way it turns cliches upside down and has the capacity to laugh at itself. I've tried to give my interpretation of an older Leslie Burke, using the book, the film and my other interests to 'mold' something entertaining and exciting. Hence why you probably see some of your interests thrown in their: Jack Sparrow, Haruhi etc.

Shamo9


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